LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



...... ©npgrt^ti Ifo 

M4^X^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



GENEVIEVE WARD 

I 

3G 2Mofftaj>!)ical ct>feetcf> 



FROM ORIGINAL MATERIAL DERIVED FROM HER FAMILY 
AND FRIENDS 



BY 



ZADEL BARNES GUSTAFSON 



WITH PORTRAIT 



81 

i«^SIol 







BOSTON 
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY 

1882 






Copyright, 1881, 
By JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY. 



All rights reserved. 



Jranfelin $rraa: 

RAND, AVERY, AND COMPANY, 
BOSTON. 



GENEVIEVE. 

(A SONG.) 

Hail to thee, and farewell, 

Beautiful Genevieve ! 
Oh, kind for thee be wind and wave, 
Thou daughter of the Free and Brave ! 
Godspeed of English heart and hand 
Goes with thee to thy native land. 

Farewell, 

Beautiful Genevieve ! 

Hail to thee, and farewell ! 

Speeding so fast away. 
Let not Columbia, eager now 
To bind her laurels on thy brow, 
Make thee forget that English hearts 
First crowned and throned thee Queen of Arts 

And Hearts, 

Beautiful Genevieve ! 

All hail, and welcome home ! 

Over dividing seas 
Returning, when the snows are past, 
Queen Flower with flowers and spring at last. 
Not more victorious than true, 
Artist and woman crowned in you ! 

Welcome, 

Beautiful Genevieve ! 



Words by Mrs. Z. B. Gustafson. The music, by the favorite 
English balladist Miss Elizabeth Philp, is given on the following 
pages. 



Genevieve, 



Words by ZADEL B. GUSTAFSON. 
Recitative. 



Music by E. PHILP. 




1 



P moderato. 



£=? 



-N-- Pv- 



^3 



Beau - ti - ful Gen- c - vieve! Oh, kbd for thee be 
Speed - ing so fast a - way. Let not Co - lum - bia, 



TT Z5>" 



P 



^ 



* 




GENEVIEVE — A SONG. 



W 



-$*- 



^^ 



wind and wave, Thou daugh-ter of the Free and Brave! God- 
ea - ger now To bind her lau - rels on thy brow, Make 



m°&m& 




fe 



fct 



^3* 



speed of Eng - lish heart and hand Goes with thee to thy 
thee for - get that Eng-lish hearts First crowned and throned thee 




na - tive land, Goes with thee to thy na - tive land. Fare- 
Queen of Arts, First crowned and throned thee Queen of Arts, and 



i 












i 



^ 



■srz. 



VI GENEVIEVE A SONG. 

rail. 



B.C. 



i^s 



« — *- 



3 



-• — 0—0- 



well, fare - well, Beau - ti - ful Gen - e - vieve! 3. All 

Hearts, and Hearts, Beau - ti - ful Gen - e - vievc! 



I 



£=t 



t= 



3 



-<a — 
-2^ 



-s*s> 



i 



§pl 



1 fit- 



1 



H LI 

1 — yd >? j d- 



%- f? ~\0 



V-V-V- 



-v-f 



hail, and wel-come home! O - ver di-vid-ing seas Re- 



i 



:a 



B3 



B?- 






« 



f~± 



■&- 



^^ 



© 



^" 



i 



_£ ^ 



^— 



t=3=F 



turn - ing, when the snows are past, Queen Flower with flowers and 

N N IS s js 




GENEVIEVE — A SONG. 



Vll 



£ 



t=t 



3E&$&E&?m 



v-#" 



spring at last. Not more vic-to - ri - ous than true, 

ft N K 




m 



%*- 



£ 



t=t 



*-*-# 4-4-+ 



"&m 



t 



4&c=tc 



S 



W 4-^ 



S 



fct4: 



3^ 



3t3* 



ft^=fc 



"t^-k- 



t=t 



Ar - tist and wo - man 



crowned in you ! Ar-tlst and woman 

r 1 




crowned in you ! Wei - come, 



wel - come, 



i 






ft 



t^p 






<^& 



^ 



m 






Vlll 



GENEVIEVE — A SONG. 




PREFACE. 



IF a book interests me, I always feel I would like to 
know how it came to be written ; and, on the sup- 
position that this is a common feeling, have prepared 
the following little preface for those who may find this 
book interesting. 

During a visit to the city of Providence, R.I., in the 
autumn of 1878, I was present at one of the sessions 
of a women's club, then presided over by Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Churchill, — a truly noble woman, who has since 
"ceased from her labors," leaving in many grateful 
hearts a memory sweet with the eternal fragrance of 
good deeds. As we were talking together at the close 
of the meeting, she said earnestly, — 

" There is one very kind thing you can do for me 
if you will. You can help my friend Genevieve Ward, 
who has recently arrived in this country. She is an 
actress of great talent and admirable training, who has 
had an unjustly long and hard struggle for the recog- 

ix 



X PREFACE. 

nition which was her due from the start. By dint of 
genius, invincible courage, and devoted study, she has 
at last won grand dramatic triumphs in England and 
France ; but this is not enough. She is an American, 
and she wants to be appreciated in her native land. 
She has ardent personal friends here ; but the large 
appreciation of the American public, which such an 
artist needs and superlatively deserves, is slow in com- 
ing to her." 

"What would you like to have me do? " I asked. 

" I wish you would call on her, and hear her play 
when she comes to Boston in the spring ; and, if the 
impression she makes on you justifies what I have said, 
I wish you would write an article about her, — not a bit 
of newspaper gossip, she receives enough of those, but 
a careful, critical, and appreciative paper, — and get it 
published in an influential quarter. Such a paper 
would not only do her a great deal of good, but be 
a favor to the fairer-minded portion of the public, who 
only need to have their attention called to a palpable 
injustice, to rectify it." 

In the spring of 1879, when Miss Ward came to 
Boston, I called on her, and saw her play. Person- 
ally, she impressed me as a lady of pure character and 
charming presence ; as an artist, she moved me, both 
to admiration and emotion, more than any woman I 



PREFACE. xi 

had ever seen on the stage, not even excepting Miss 
Cushman. The few biographical notes taken very 
hastily viva voce during her short stay in Boston con- 
vinced me, on examination, that her story was matter 
for a book, rather than an article. 

Before communicating this second thought to any 
one, what was my astonishment to read in the literary 
announcements of "The Boston Saturday Gazette," 
that I was writing a book on Miss Genevieve Ward ! 
As "The Gazette " was never known to make a mis- 
take, I was determined not to be the first to convict 
it of human frailty. I wrote to Miss Ward in London 
for more materials, not then divulging my book plan, 
being uncertain that a publisher would undertake it — 
they don't always take a good thing ! 

Miss Ward wrote back in July, 1879 : ■ — 

" I have not had a moment to call my own. We have moved 
from Paris to London, and furnished our new home. I have 
taken the Lyceum for the period of Mr. Irving's absence, to 
produce my new play ' Zillah,' by Palgrave Simpson, formed a 
company, commenced rehearsals, and generally started every 
thing. I open the 2d of August, and up to that time can't pos- 
sibly sit down quietly to give you all the details I must gather 
together. Mother is delighted with your message, and will take 
great pleasure in doing all in her power." 

Miss Ward had expected to return to the United 



Xll PREFACE. 

States in the fall of 1879; but this plan had been 
given up. Meantime I had proposed the book to 
Mr. J. R. Osgood, and he had accepted it. 

I wrote her that my project had expanded from an 
article to a book, and asked for the amplest materials 
at her command. 

In March, 1880, she replied from Edinburgh, — 

" You are a worker yourself, and know how one work often 
crowds out another : I therefore feel certain that you do not 
attribute my silence to neglect, or want of appreciation for your 
kind and noble labors in my behalf ; but, as I was not to return 
home this year, I thought you would postpone the publication 
of your work on G. W. until my return to America should be 
decided, when it would have an additional interest. I find I 
have not brought with me to Edinburgh all the material I sup- 
posed, but I send you what I have on hand. . . . ' Ziliah ' was 
such a failure, I withdrew it after four nights, putting in its 
place Victor Hugo's ' Lucrezia Borgia ' as arranged for me by 
Mr. William Young. This was only until I had prepared an- 
other play which I had not yet secured. I also did ' Meg Mer- 
rilies.' I spent my days reading plays, and at last concluded 
on trying ' Forget Me Not,' a play which had been for seven 
years on the author's hands, being refused by all the leading 
actresses of England. I produced it with only a week to study 
and rehearse it, and playing ' Lucrezia ' every night. 

" I never played a part on such short notice, and had no time 
to analyze it. It was entirely an inspiration. The play made 
a hit; but we could not test its drawing capacities, for I could 
only have the theatre two weeks. I then took it to the prov- 



PREFACE. xiii 

inces on a very successful tour, and opened the Prince of Wales 
Theatre, under Mr. Bruce's management, with it on the 22d of 
February, just six months from its first production. The first 
two weeks it was uncertain whether it would draw, notwith- 
standing the encomiums of the press : then it took a start, and 
the houses have been crammed ; many times, ladies and gen- 
tlemen in full dress. being obliged to go up into the amphi- 
theatre, and they did so rather than not see it. The best test, 
however, is that the same people come over and over again, 
and like it better each time. 

" The Prince of Wales came twice in two weeks ; and as he 
is considered the best judge of the drama in England, and says 
there is no acting like mine off the French stage, I have become 
the * rage.' They are very generous here ; my being an Ameri- 
can is no drawback. In fact, when the Prince of Wales asked 
me if I was not French, and I told him I was an American, he 
replied, ' I have always thought the American ladies the clever- 
est in the world/ — a pretty compliment to American women. 
I herewith send a few items jotted down by mother. I have 
perfect faith in you, womanarily and literarily, as I prove. As 
all the biographical sketches of me hitherto published have been 
a great mixture of truth and error, I will see that yours is well 
circulated as authentic I never wrote so much about myself 
before, and never shall again ; for I will always refer my friends 
in future to your complete and comprehensive work." 

The "few items jotted down by mother" showed 
me that Mrs. Ward's memory was my mine : therefore 
I deferred writing the present biography until this 
summer of 1881, when, during the latter part of June 



XIV PREFACE. 

and early in July, we were all in London together, and 
I received from the Wards the necessary materials, 
abundant and rich, but in an unavoidably chaotic state, 
which I have taken conscientious pains to reduce to 
accuracy and symmetry ; and, whatever other defects 
may be found, I believe that no error of import to fact 
or feeling will be discovered. 

It goes without saying, that perspective and certain 
other qualities and elements characteristic of posthu- 
mous biography — obviously much the easiest to write 
— are not, and ought not to be, apparent in the present 
work. Mrs. Ward furnished me, as I had foreseen 
she would, some of the most interesting details from 
a well-trained and well-stored memory. From the 
masses of letters addressed by eminent men and 
women of many lands to Miss Ward, to which I have 
had access, I have been guided in my selection less 
by the distinguished position of the writers, than by 
the capacity to add by illustration or elucidation to 
the value of the subject matter. It has not been pos- 
sible to insert more than a small proportion of letters, 
nearly all of which would interest the general reader, 
and which form a correspondence, as to source and 
character, of which any one might be proud to have 
been the recipient. 

If this book inspires any talent with the patience 



PREFACE. XV 

and courage of the profound discipline Art exacts of 
every votary whom she crowns, and if it pleases its 
gifted subject and her friends, — a term which must 
ultimately apply to all lovers of pure art splendidly 
exemplified, — I shall be well recompensed for a difri- 

ZADEL BARNES GUSTAFSON. 
London, Aug. 27, 1881. 



1 Dear Madame Gustafson, — It is with the greatest pleas- 
ure that I hear you intend writing the biography of my friend 
Miss Ward. Such a work cannot fail to greatly interest the 
general public and especially all lovers of art. 

Nature has endowed Miss Ward with precious gifts for the 
stage. She interested me from the first moment of our ac- 
quaintance ; and I was glad to have the pleasure of evincing 
my sympathy by taking part, together with my illustrious friend 
Frezzolini, in a concert given by Miss Ward in a salon of the 
Hotel de Louvre in Paris. 

She was then a lyric artist: and, though possessing much 
merit, my impression was, that she excelled rather in dramatic 
power ; and when in London, in 1873, she informed me of her 
intention to devote herself to dramatic art, I encouraged her in 
every way in my power, aiding her with my advice and in- 
struction. 

In December of the same year, when I met her again in 
Manchester, on hearing her declaim selections from different 
tragedies, I was convinced that I had not been mistaken in 
thinking a brilliant career awaited her on the English stage ; 
and, although I have never had the pleasure of assisting at one 
of her representations, the success she has since obtained in 
England, France, and America, and the unanimous applause 
accorded her by the press, have proved to me that my pre- 
visions have been fully realized. She has met the just reward 
for her persevering devotion to her profession. Hoping that 
I may soon have the pleasure of reading your work, believe me, 
dear madame, 

Yours very truly, 

ADELAIDE RISTORI (DEL GRILLO). 

St. Moritz-Bad, Aug. 28, 1881. 
Hof-St. Moritz. 

1 This letter is given just as it was written in English by Madame Ristori. 



"I can conceive of few things more stimulating to a woman, than 

a gifted mother." 

Elizabeth Stuart Phelps. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 

(COUNTESS DE GUERBEL.) 



I. 



AMONG the "seven hundred and ten distin- 
guished persons, each bearing but one name, 
who accompanied William the Conqueror from Nor- 
mandy to the conquest of England in 1066," was Baron 
Leigh; and in the still-preserved record of their 
names is mentioned that of- " Ward, one of the noble 
captains, this being the earliest date in which the name 
is found in English history." 

From that period to the present, the Wards and 
Leighs have intermarried. 

John Leigh came with his brother to America from 
Bruton Street, London, in 1634. 

Gov. Morton's memorial, in recording the arrivals 
from the Old Country, speaks of these Leigh brothers 
as the younger sons of the Earl of Marlborough. The 
king had portioned them off with grants of land. The 
son of John Leigh was sent back in due course of 
time to England, to be educated, and entered Queen 
Anne's navy. The descendants of the Bru ton-street 

3 



4 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Leighs settled on the eastern shores of Maryland, and 
agreed with the Goodenoughs and the Woodhouses — 
being all stanch republicans — to change their names 
respectively to those of Lee, Woodis, and Goodenow ; 
names now so widely and favorably known in the 
United States, synonymes of enterprise, prosperity, and 
clean repute. The royalist branch of the Leigh family 
remained good Tories, retained the original spelling of 
their name, and moved to Nova Scotia. 

One of the family, a wealthy bachelor named 
Horatio Nelson Ward, went to Europe about thirty 
years ago, and spent about fifteen years, and from ten 
to twelve thousand pounds, in seeking out the gene- 
alogy of his family. He succeeded in tracing them 
back to the year 700, in Denmark, where the name 
is still found spelled Wart, and meaning, both in Dan- 
ish and in German, as in English, — to guard. 

Both the Wards and the Leighs have been people 
of most honorable repute, long-lived, and a notable 
proportion of them have from generation to generation 
filled acceptably positions of responsibility and public 
trust. Besides the long list of families whose names 
and records are matters of both English and American 
pride, with whom the Wards have from time to time 
intermarried, they have continued, as already stated, to 
intermarry with the Lees in both countries, and the 
same names have been handed down in the families ; 
William having been usually the name of the head of 
the family of Ward, and John the name of the head 
of the Lee family. 

Only those who have seen the volume entitled "The 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 5 

Ward Family," ' issued in 185 1, by Andrew Henshaw 
Ward, A.M., member of the New-England Historic- 
Genealogical Society, know what an interesting and 
proud family-tree it reveals, with branches bearing 
many of the best-known and best-loved English and 
American names. 

Mrs. Lucy Leigh Ward, 2 daughter of Gideon Lee, 
formerly mayor of New- York City, widow of the late 
Col. Samuel Ward, and mother of the beautiful and 
gifted tragedienne who is the subject of the present 
biography, is the most remarkable living member of 
this family, and one of the most remarkable represen- 
tative women of modern times. 

" I am accused of being very proud of my old 
family," she said to me, one day of this present sum- 
mer of 1 88 1 ; "and Judge Wayne once reminded me 
that I was the ninth generation of the Lees born in 
the State of Massachusetts, and that in Austria ten 
generations make a noble. But it isn't nobilities, 
titles, lordships, patrimonies, coats-of-arms, and blue 
blood, that I care for ; but when you can trace a family 
back for hundreds of years, and find them, from gen- 
eration to generation, men and women of splendid 
bodies and magnificent souls, as the Wards and Lees 
are to this day, I take it as good proof they have lived 
after God's own plan ; and I am proud of that sort of 
nobility ; and I think, too, that 'the family names of 
such people ought to be spared from public burlesque. 
When Mr. Browne was here in London, a letter ap- 

1 Published by Samuel G. Drake. See Appendix. 

2 Ever since ascertaining that Leigh was the original spelling of her maiden 
name, Mrs. Ward has adopted that form. 



6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

peared in 'The Times/ asking for the correct pro- 
nunciation of Artemas. I replied in the same journal 
that I was probably the best authority on the subject, 
as there had been several Artemas Wards in my family, 
and we gave the accent to the first syllable. I took 
care to add that I regretted extremely that Mr. Browne 
should have chosen the time-honored name of Major- 
Gen. Artemas Ward of the Revolution as a subject for 
derision and laughter. Mr. Browne called on me im- 
mediately, and in a very gentlemanly manner expressed 
his great surprise at the fact I had mentioned, and his 
regret that in ignorance of it he should have wounded 
family feeling, and begged leave to incorporate the fact 
in his then forthcoming book." 

Mrs. Ward's mother, who died when Lucy was a 
baby, was Laura Bufnngton, who lived in Worthing- 
ton, Mass., and. who was a lineal descendant of old 
Jonathan Edwards of Northampton, Mass. It will 
be remembered that keenness, strength, and sterling 
moral quality marked the " long-favored " and un- 
beautiful Edwards face. One day, when Mrs. Ward 
was little Lucy Lee, one of the Edwards family came 
to her father's on a visit. Noticing the little girl, 
caught probably in the first instance by the twinkling 
glances of the direct and penetrating eyes, — eyes that 
care, experience, and age are powerless to dim, — he 
asked, — 

"Whose child is this?" and, laying his hand on her 
head, he upturned her face for the sort of scrutiny to 
which the shyest and most individual souls of chil- 
dren are always being unwarrantably subjected. She 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 7 

gave him look for look, and never forgot the pathetic 
fellowship that came into his face as he released her, 
and said, " That's an Edwards child ! " 

She was a prodigy from her birth ; interpreting life 
from the first with an originality, and understanding it 
with a passion, that belong neither to childhood nor 
age, but to genius. Her instinct for shams and shal- 
lownesses drew blood, like Ithuriel's spear, wherever the 
lie lay hid. And, though this faculty has kept the 
circle of intimate friendship thin enough for the freest 
and happiest grouping of the few who have truly 
known her, it has not withheld her from entertaining 
and re-invigorating the social circles of many lands, 
which her own gifts, and her daughter's beauty, tal- 
ents, and unique career, have gathered around them. 

Major Buffington, a descendant of Lady Burlington, 
and the grandfather, on the mother's side, of Mrs. 
Ward, was one of the historic figures of her earliest 
memories. Lady Buffington used laughingly to call 
George Washington a " great rascal," relating a little 
incident somewhat subversive of the popular tradition 
of the little hatchet. 

The Mount Vernon and Buffington estates adjoined ; 
and, according to Lady Buffington, when George 
Washington builded the wall between them, he made 
it lap over on her property, thus sparing every inch of 
his own. 

Major Buffington, who served through the whole of 
the Revolution, is reputed to have been the strongest 
man in the army, very handsome, and so tall and well- 
proportioned as to carry gracefully his weight of two 



8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

hundred and ninety pounds. His hair when combed 
out reached to his ankles ; and his Polish servant, who 
took great pride in it, braided and looped it in an 
elegant cue. Mrs. Ward distinctly remembers, in 
proof of his fabulous physical powers, seeing him on 
one occasion go into a stable, lay his hand on a horse, 
and push it over flat upon the ground ; and at another 
time, when a horse was running away with a buggy, 
Major Buffington sprang forward, and catching hold 
of the back of the wagon stopped the animal by main 
force after a few paces. To Lucy Lee, then not five 
years old, he seemed as veritable a giant as any that 
Jack the Giant-killer ever slew. At the close of the 
Revolution he moved with his family from Virginia to 
Massachusetts, where he settled on top of a moun- 
tain near Worthington, and devoted his remaining en- 
ergies to his horses, which had always been a great 
passion with him ; a feeling shared by the whole fam- 
ily, who ride, drive, and manage horses admirably. In 
1815 he was offered a generalship, but declined on 
account of his sufferings from epilepsy, which had al- 
ready paled his naturally jet-black eyes to blue. 

"Some thirty years ago," said Mrs. Ward, in a re- 
cent letter to a friend, "just as I was going aboard the 
steamer for Europe, a man addressed me, asking if I 
was a» descendant of Major Buffington. The govern- 
ment of Florida had sent to know, there being a tract 
of land belonging to him in that State, probably given 
to him for his services in the Revolution. I sent this 
man to my lawyer, who, however, paid no attention 
to it. I believe there is an island and a stream in the 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 9 

West named Buffington for him : I have no papers, 
however, on these or kindred matters, as my step- 
mother and I were not friends. She had been my 
nursery-governess ; and she never gave me any thing 
after my father's death, which took place when I was 
abroad and very ill." 

All Mrs. Ward's early recollections are of such men 
as Clay, Webster, the Waynes, Gen. Jackson, Gov. 
Clinton ; all friends of her father's, whom she there- 
fore saw constantly, and to whom she was a never- 
palling astonishment, the best of little bons camarades, 
a fresh-hearted child-sage, never to be driven, bought, 
or coaxed from the most courageously truthful 
dealings. 

Gov. Clinton, who could not get warm at his own 
fireside, used often to take his meals with the Lees ; 
and on one of these occasions, in the course of a 
conversation she was too young to understand, Lucy 
heard her father suddenly exclaim, — 

" If you do that, you'll cut the throat of the United 
States ! " 

The child slipped away, and tremblingly thought up- 
on this announcement. It seemed to her too frightful 
to be spoken of, and she was carefully silent though 
vividly remembering it. At last, when she had become 
a " grown-up," she asked her father about it ; and he 
explained that Gov. Clinton had wished to be made 
governor a second' time, which, as it could not be 
done without giving a free vote, was a process tant- 
amount, in Gideon Lee's mind, to putting the knife to 
the throat of the Republic. 



10 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Thomas Cooper, the famous elocutionist of Kem- 
ble's time, whose powerful " Coriolanus " and "Julius 
Caesar " were the models for the English stage of those 
days, used to visit her father in New York, and took 
great interest in the marvellous child. He would 
place her on the table in front of him, and repeat long 
declamatory passages, which she would recite after 
him with scarcely the loss of a word, imitating his 
gesture and accent to a nicety. Her rich voice seemed 
a miracle in a body so small ; but wonder at this was 
merged in wonder at the memorizing faculty, and at 
the passionate fidelity of the imitation which fascinated 
Tom Cooper, and made these scenes great treats to 
them all ; and it was emphatically prophesied that she 
would grow up to be one of the greatest wonders of 
the world. When barely old enough to hold a pencil 
she made little drawings, and painted miniatures on 
rice-paper, with a sense of color and a notion of man- 
agement that would have been striking in a much older 
artist ; and her improvisations in both music and verse 
were surprisingly graceful and touching. 

But, with all her gifts and her quickness, little Lucy 
was very plain, and was constantly hearing this fact 
affirmed and deplored, not always as kindly as in Jona- 
than Edwards's compassionate eyes. This crushed her. 
Everybody was kind to her, and of admiration she 
had enough to have turned dozens of heads of another 
sort than hers ; but she did not feel herself loved. 
To those who know her in these days of her wrinkles 
and gray hairs, it seems impossible that she should not 
have been loved in her childhood, if only for the light 



GENEVIEVE WARD. II 

and quenchless youth of the eyes and smile which 
make plainness and old age in her so lovely ; but the 
correctness of such a child's instinct can hardly be 
questioned. She craved for love, always missing it. 
She carried herself calmly, with the seeming careless- 
ness of her years ; but she left people for dumb ani- 
mals. Horses, dogs, cows, birds, were her intimates. 
She fed them, caressed them ; and they listened to all 
her confidences, and loved her, each after its kind. 
Birds, particularly, were very dear and tame to her ; 
and she has never tasted their flesh. 

With little notion of the use or value of money, she 
reaped all the advantages of being an heiress. She 
became an excellent pianist, played both the harp and 
guitar, sang, painted, and wrote melodious verse and 
graphic prose with great facility. 

The identity of Mrs. Ward used sometimes to be 
confounded with that of Medora Grimes, wife of 
Samuel Ward the lobbyist, for the latter was also very 
talented. But, unlike Gideon Lee's bright daughters, 
Medora was a beauty ; and by this point of difference 
the two brilliant Mesdames Ward were distinguished 
from one another. 

But it was as a conversationalist that Mrs. Ward, nee 
Lucy Lee, outshone all other talkers, maintaining the 
nicest harmony between the thoughtful, weighty, and 
witty elements of conversation ; so that her supremacy 
in this fine art — the most royal and perhaps most 
exacting of all the arts — was conceded without envy 
or question That she was a perfect hostess, follows 
without saying. An eclectic number of the political, 



12 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

literary, and musical celebrities of the time gathered 
around her, loath to lose a word from her lips ; and 
Daniel Webster, Calhoun, Clay, and Tom Corwin used 
to be moved to tears .in listening to her singing of 
"The Irish Emigrant," accompanied by the guitar. 
For her singing was also something wonderful. It is 
said that her voice had a compass of four full octaves ; 
from the middle register ascending it was a fine, soft 
soprano, and below it was a full, strong tenor. 

She studied song in Italy, when her daughter Gene- 
vieve was a baby; and no less an authority than 
Madame Garcia, mother of Madame Malibran, said 
that Mrs. Ward's voice was precisely that of Madame 
Malibran, only it had greater compass; that their 
necks were formed and set alike, with a peculiarity 
which she thought would be observable in all great 
singers. Mrs. Ward's teacher in singing was Signor 
Marchelini, a one-legged Italian of great talent and 
taste, who was also the prison-friend of Silvio Pellico, 
whose history is so well known. 

Once when a guest at the house of Catalini, in Italy, 
Mrs. Ward was asked to sing, and, in complying, se- 
lected a tenor part. Her singing was quickly inter- 
rupted by Madame Catalini's exclamation, — 

" No ! I cannot believe it ! It cannot be you who 
are singing : it is a man's voice ! " and she placed 
her own mouth to that of the young singer to feel if the 
notes were really breathed from that quarter. Being 
by this process at last convinced, she exclaimed, with 
delight and amazement, " But there must be something 
wrong here ! This is not human ! " 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 3 

She took no lessons in painting, except a few in 
landscape from an Englishman, and afterward of Miss 
Viardot in Paris ; but she had the benefit of Sir William 
Newton's advice in London, and in Paris, in miniature, 
the counsels of the celebrated M. Isabey, miniature- 
painter of the court of Napoleon the Great. 

Mrs. Ward's Friday receptions in Paris were at- 
tended by the chief writers and artists of the day. 
Musset and Balzac were there ; the great painter Ver- 
net came, and David d' Angers; but M. Isabey was 
one of the most interesting of her guests. Imagine a 
gentleman dressed in the style of the French court 
during the period when Napoleon affected the richest 
display for his satellites, — a man over eighty years 
old, yet with a young and flashing eye, and a most 
polished bearing, — and you have M. Isabey in Mrs. 
Ward's Parisian salon. He frankly admired her work ; 
and when she applied to him for the address of Ma- 
dame Mirbel, one of his best pupils, that she might 
take lessons of her, he begged her not to run the risk 
of injuring her style, " already combining all that was 
most finished and precious in miniature, by taking 
lessons of any one then in Paris." 

Since I have seen some of Mrs. Ward's work, I can 
appreciate the justice of such praise. Her miniature 
on ivory of Madame Elizabeth, Louis XVI. 's nobly 
famous "Angel of the Prison" sister, is beautifully 
worthy of its subject ; and her last picture, represent- 
ing her daughter Genevieve at the age of eight, painted 
this summer of 1881, with hand and eye of threescore 
years and ten, is not only one of the fairest ideals of 



14 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

childish innocence and aspiration I have ever seen, 
but as a piece of work is so delicately fine, it appears 
rather to have been breathed than brushed upon 
canvas. 

One day M. Isabey escorted Mrs. Ward to see the 
famous "Battle of the Alma," while in process of 
painting. She looked at the Due d'Aumale on horse- 
back, and at the figure of the woman kneeling on the 
ground in front of him, for some time, with scant 
comment. 

" Well, well, well ! " eagerly exclaimed M. Isabey, 
when they had come out, "how do you like it?" 

"Dear friend, I like it very much — all but the 
drawing of the woman." 

" Why ! What do you mean ? What is wrong with 
her?" 

"Did you really notice nothing?" said Mrs. Ward. 
" Did you not see that the woman is kneeling on the 
ground, while the duke is on horseback, yet her head 
comes up to the top of the horse's back ; and if she 
should rise, she would, while on the ground, be as tall 
as the duke on horseback?" 

M. Isabey, who was personally interested in the 
artist, heard her in consternation : — 

" But if this is so, dear madame, we must go back : 
we must tell him ; it must be fixed." 

" But we cannot go back, now we have come away." 

" Yes, we can," persisted M. Isabey : " you can make 
an excuse. You have lost — yes, you have lost your 
handkerchief," taking and crunching it in his hand : 
" I will drop it, and you shall find it." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 5 

So they played this friendly little trick ; and, to his 
dismay, M. Isabey found that Mrs. Ward was right, 
and when they again came out said he must devise 
some way for getting the artist's attention to such a 
terrible blunder. 

" But I don't think the dear old gentleman found 
the right time, and the courage, at the same moment," 
said Mrs. Ward to me ; " for the picture with the im- 
possible woman hangs in* the palace at Versailles to 
this day." 

During the regime of Louis Philippe, Mrs. Ward 
enjoyed the friendship of the Marquise de Beaufort, 
whose son was aide-de-camp to the Duke of Orleans. 
She frequently accompanied the marquise to court, 
and to the " intimes soirees." The marquise was a 
great favorite with the royal family, who constantly sent 
her gifts of fruits and flowers, which she made haste to 
share with Mrs. Ward. They met daily ; and the mar- 
quise, always interested in every thing American, was 
eager to taste every American dish which Mrs. Ward, 
who added to her other gifts that of being a true chef 
de cuisine, had prepared for the novel delectation of 
her kind French friend. 

When Mrs. Ward was in Italy, Hiram Powers — who 
was much impressed with her talents — told her that 
he thought she had even greater genius for modelling 
than painting, and she moulded for some time in his 
studio ; and when they parted, the great sculptor gave 
her the instruments with which Miss Genevieve Ward 
is now modelling. 



A MADAME WARD. 

Vous qui reunissez tant de talents divers, 
Et dont le coeur unit l'Amerique et la France, 
Permettez-moi de dire aujourd'hui dans ces vers, 
Que vous aimez surtout a calmer la souffrance ! 
Lorsque Paris etait en proie a des pervers, 
Que la bombe ecrasait la vieillesse et l'enfance; 
Quand le froid et le faim accroissaient nos revers, 
Qu'il nous restait a peine un rayon d'esperance, — 
Alors, n'ecoutant plus que votre charite, 
Votre courage ardent, conduit par la bonte, 
Dans bien des coeurs francais gravait votre memoire. 
Parmi nous votre bon nom sera souvent cite ; 
On cherit vos talents ; mais c'est l'humanite, 
Qui saura mieux encore consacrer votre gloire. 

Charles Boissiere. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 9 



II. 



Mrs. Ward's extensive travels have made the whole 
world her home, and herself a cosmopolitan thoroughly 
familiar with the manners and customs, and with the 
languages even to the dialects, of very diverse peoples ; 
and over a long period the columns of both home and 
foreign journals have sparkled with her apt descriptions 
of the scenes and people of her journeyings ; and the 
energy with which she has devoted her ready mimetic 
and other gifts — for she has been one of the clever- 
est of comediennes — to social or beneficiary service 
everywhere, has been equalled only by the esteem in 
which the greatest have held her talents and her rare 
critical powers. 

From the striking episodes of her eventful life I 
have selected certain incidents of the siege of Paris, 
not only because they afford good illustration of those 
salient traits which have less defined her own life, than 
wonderfully guided and guarded her daughter's career 
to its present proud eminence, but because they are 
of international interest, and have not hitherto been 
generally made known. 

When the Franco-Prussian war was declared, Mrs. 
Ward was staying in Paris with her son Albert Lee 



20 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Ward. Mr. Ward was a young man of unusual ca- 
pacity, gifted with good sense of the very first order, 
a handsome person, and elegant manners ; and his ac- 
quirements, especially in political science and in the 
mastery of languages, had already gained him position 
in the diplomatic service in the city of Bristol, England, 
as American vice-consul and Austrian vice-consul ; and 
for a time as consul-general for Portugal, on account 
of the death of their own consul-general, in which 
position he gave such satisfaction to the Portuguese 
government that they wished to retain him in their 
office, but could not on account of his alien birth. He 
served also as consul pro tern at Cairo, at the time of 
Butler's ejection. When the siege of Paris was immi- 
nent, Mr. Ward gave up his position in a bank for that 
of secretary to the American Legation ; his linguistic 
abilities making his services of the most vital impor- 
tance to Mr. Washburne, then the American minister 
to France, who was not conversant with the modern 
languages. 

The mother and son, previous to the opening of 
hostilities, had talked over the matter of staying or 
departing from the troubled capital, and had concluded 
to remain in the hope of being of use to the wounded 
in case of battles, and perhaps of other humane as- 
sistance. 

One Sunday morning, early in those agitated days, 
Mrs. Ward, who had lain awake all night on gentle 
thoughts intent, rose and went to her son's room, and 
roused him with these words, — 

" Suppose we organize an ambulance. Let us go 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 21 

up to Dr. Evans, and see if he will let us have his tools 
and things to begin with." 

Dr. Thomas Evans was an American dentist, then 
residing in Paris, and the owner of tents and other 
appurtenances for sanitary purposes. When the 
Wards' ambulance-plan was laid before him, he at 
once begged to be admitted into it. 

" Let's unite," said he. " I'll give you a room in my 
apartments in the Rue de la Paix, and we will form 
an ambulance ; and Mrs. Ward will have charge of the 
ladies' sanitary committee, and appeal for funds." 

Upon this followed a ladies' meeting, at which Dr. 
Evans presided. Mrs. Ward nominated Mrs. Dr. 
Evans for the presidency of the ladies' sanitary com- 
mittee ; but, as this lady was just about quitting Paris, 
Mrs. Ward next named Mrs. Anson Burlingame ; Mrs. 
Burlingame, however, was also about to leave Paris, 
and proposed that Mrs. Ward, who. had initiated the 
noble measure, should be made president, and at once 
subscribed with other ladies large sums in support of 
the project. In a speech, Dr. Evans as chairman 
declared Mrs. Ward president of the ladies' sanitary 
committee. 

Mrs. Parnell, wife of the Irish agitator, her two 
daughters, and two other English ladies, joined Mrs. 
Ward heartily in the labors of getting up the ambu- 
lance : lint and bandages were rapidly made ready, 
and all went on smoothly. Dr. Sims of New York, 
Dr. May of Baltimore, and some other young Ameri- 
can physicians, assisted the ladies in their enterprise. 
Dr. Evans, and his secretary Dr. Crane, Mr. Albert 



22 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Lee Ward (whom Dr. Evans appointed secretary of the 
ambulance commission), and Dr. Lamson, one of the 
American clergy, formed the gentlemen's committee ; 
but, as with this number they had no quorum, Mr. 
Ward proposed, at one of their meetings, that Dr. Sims 
should be added to their committee. To everybody's 
astonishment, Dr. Evans sprang up and exclaimed, — 

" No ! /won't have him on ! " 

Dr. Sims remained tranquil until the meeting was 
over, then walking up to Dr. Evans, and asking, " What 
do you mean by saying such a thing?" struck Dr. 
Evans coolly across the mouth with open palm. 

Dr. Evans immediately sat down in the nearest chair, 
and in a crouching attitude, with his hands lifted, dep- 
recatingly cried out several times, — 

" Oh, don't hurt me ! don't hurt me ! " 

" Why don't you pick up a chair, and go for him, 
instead of whimpering like that?" cried Mr. Ward. 

" He knocked me down," replied Evans, still cow- 
ering. 

" No, that's not true," said Mr. Ward. 

Meantime the noise of the altercation had reached 
the ladies' department ; and Mrs. Ward, Dr. May of 
Baltimore, Miss Parnell, and the other English ladies, 
rushed across the passage into the gentlemen's com- 
mittee-rooms. 

Mr. Ward was standing with his hands on Dr. Sims's 
shoulders, as in friendly restraint. Dr. Crane had hold 
of Dr. Evans, from whose nose a few drops of blood 
trickled. The moment his mother appeared, Mr. 
Ward turned to her and the other ladies, and led them 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 23 

from the room, saying, " Mother, this is no place for 
you." 

The next morning when Mrs. Ward came to resume 
her duties in the ladies' committee-room, she found 
the door locked, and was informed that a Mrs. Conk- 
ling had been placed in charge by order of Dr. Evans. 

Wishing to reach some understanding with Dr. 
Evans as to the abrupt and peremptory alteration of 
affairs, she returned in the afternoon of the same day, 
and was told Dr. Evans had left town ; but, seeing his 
carriage waiting at a little distance, she concluded to 
wait also, and after some time the absent doctor came 
down-stairs. 

Mrs. Ward asked him at once for an explanation of 
the proceedings ; to which he replied, that he could 
not give it then, as he was just leaving for Dieppe. 
He was looking well, showing no traces whatever of 
the fray of the previous day, and Mrs. Ward congratu- 
lated him pointedly to that effect. The very next step 
in the matter, however, was the prosecution of Dr. 
Sims by Dr. Evans, damages being set at five thousand 
francs ; and all the members of both committees were 
summoned to court. 

Dr. Evans testified that he had been severely injured 
physically by the assault of Dr. Sims, and had lost a 
great deal of money also, in consequence of being 
unable to attend to his business. 

Dr. Crane denied that he was Dr. Evans's secretary, 
or had received any salary from him, and then cor- 
roborated precisely the testimony of Dr. Evans as to 
the injuries the latter had received in body and purse. 



24 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Dr. May stated that he had just arrived from Dieppe ; 
that, on the day succeeding that of the alleged assault, 
Dr. Evans had arrived at Dieppe perfectly well, and 
had eaten dinner there like every one else at table 
d'hote. 

Mrs. Ward testified that she had seen Dr. Evans the 
next day after the encounter ; that he was looking just 
as usual, and had received her congratulations on the 
fact. 

Dr. Sims gave his testimony in accordance with that 
of Mrs. Ward and Dr. May. . He apologized hand- 
somely to the court for having disturbed the laws of a 
country he so profoundly esteemed ; and, not being 
familiar with the French language, he made everybody 
laugh by adding, "I only gave him a sifflet" (whistle), 
meaning to have said soufflet (light blow) . 

The decision of the court was given morally on the 
side of the defendant; the damages being placed at 
three hundred francs, the lowest legal limit. 

As the party were going out of court, Dr. Evans 
shook his fist in Mrs. Ward's face, declaring he would 
have her up for libel. A New-Orleans lawyer who had 
been much interested in the case happened to be close 
behind them, and pulled out his note-book, exclaiming, 
"What's that! what's that!" upon which Dr. Evans 
disappeared. 

At this period Dr. Evans was in communication with 
the Queen of Prussia, and had shown to the ambu- 
lance a letter the queen had written to him ; and he 
was commonly spoken of as the back-stair friend of 
Louis Napoleon, which seems to afford some indica- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 2$ 

tion of the reason why, when he soon after went to 
England, he was not permitted to return to Paris while 
the siege lasted. 

It is now reported that he denies that there ever 
was a ladies' sanitary committee. But the foregoing 
account can be verified, having been taken from the 
minutes of the ladies' sanitary committee. 

After this suit, and just before Dr. Evans left for 
England, two English gentlemen arrived in Paris with 
two thousand pounds they were intending to give to 
the American ambulance. On talking with Dr. Evans, 
and finding that he wished to be considered the only 
person concerned with the ambulance, and to have his 
name printed on every thing, even to the pill-boxes 
and straps and toggery of the wagons, ,these English- 
men promptly handed over the money to the French 
sanitary committee at the Palais de V Industrie, which 
Dr. Sims, Dr. May, and the other physicians had 
joined. 

When the battle of Sedan was thought to be immi- 
nent, Dr. Sims came to Mrs. Ward, and said they were 
organizing an ambulance to go out to Sedan, and 
asked if she would be willing to take part in a beg- 
ging march from the Palais de V Industrie to the rail- 
way-station. This procession, conceded to have been 
the handsomest ever seen in time of war, was formed 
as follows. First, in double file, came the servants of 
the ambulance in bright uniform, under the command 
of the tall and handsome Count Serrurier, vice-presi- 
dent of the Societe Francaise de Secours aux Blesses, 
an officer who rendered eminent services during the 



26 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

war. Next came the military band, followed by three 
ladies ; Mrs. Carr and Miss Carrie Sims (both daugh- 
ters of Dr. Sims) and Mrs. Ward. The Sims ladies 
declined to carry the English flag, preferring to carry 
the French and American banners. To settle this 
point, Mrs. Ward heartily volunteered to be the bearer 
of the "grandmother's blanket," as the English flag 
used jocularly to be called to distinguish it from the 
"grandmother's gridiron," the stars and stripes. 

Mr. Ward walked beside his mother, then nearly 
sixty years old, to help her bear the really heavy stand- 
ard. Another gentleman walked on the other side 
of the three ladies to hold out the contribution-bags. 
Then came the body of physicians, followed by the 
new and resplendent ambulance -wagon and the led 
horses. A thick crowd closed in upon the rear of the 
procession, following it all the way. 

On seeing this bright and sturdy phalanx pass up 
the boulevards, with the three ladies marching in the 
midst, bearing the flags of England, America, and 
France, the people, officers, and soldiers formed a 
dense hedge on either side, and gave them military 
salutes. Fired with sympathy in the noble purpose of 
the march, they threw off their caps in the greatest 
enthusiasm, crying all along the line, " God bless you ! 
God bless you ! O you dear, brave women ! " 

About fifteen thousand • francs were taken in this 
march. 

Later, when the American ambulance was about 
breaking up for want of funds, Mr. Ward called a 
meeting of the few Americans then in Paris, stated the 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 2/ 

situation, pledged every franc he himself possessed to 
the maintenance of the enterprise in the name of 
American honor, and even vouched for Dr. Evans 
that the latter would, when permitted to return to 
Paris, refund all sums so expended ; which Dr. Evans 
subsequently did. 

Mr. Ward's action re-animated popular interest in 
the project. Contributions poured in : Hon. Stuart 
Wortley loaned twenty-five thousand francs to Mr. 
Ward for it ; and old Mr. Boucicault of the Bon Mar- 
che gave Mrs. Ward five hundred francs, and any arti- 
cle she might require for the ambulance. 

Such were the means by which the American ambu- 
lance was saved to do great and humane service. Of 
the situation of the besieged, Mrs. Ward wrote to a 
friend : — 

" At last we were shut up in the siege. Hams were selling 
at two hundred francs, and every thing else in proportion. We 
had at the start plenty of tea, and some dried beans and canned 
cranberries ; but they didn't last long. Then the arrondissement 
gave us a card on which we were allotted a certain amount of 
horse-meat for my son, self, and servant. She would go about 
ten a.m., and return about four p.m., with the few ounces be- 
longing to us; having been obliged to wait all that time for her 
turn to come in the long line of applicants. 

"At last our allowance was a piece of horse-meat three 
inches square for all three of us, for three days. 

" This was indeed starvation portions. My son was fre- 
quently invited to partake of the meagre fare of the generals, 
most of whom he knew officially ; and once Gen. de Maussion, 
hearing him say he had some salt pork, begged a piece in ex- 
change for a piece of mutton. . . . Once Gen. Appert, knowing 
that Albert was ill, sent him in from outside the walls a piece 



28 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

of tenderloin, the soldiers having caught a stray bullock. Mrs. 
Appert had received some little birds caught in Paris. Mr. 
Hoskier, of Brown Brothers, a brother of Mrs. Appert, sent us 
some wood ; and it was a curious sight to see the Marquis de 
Jouffroy making charcoal in an iron pot, for we had no means 
of cooking except with charcoal. 

"We had charge of several horses and carriages; but for 
this care, the horses would have been seized for food. Well, 
when the wood came from Mr. Hoskier, I put some of it in one 
of the carriages. It was elegantly lined with blue satin, but I 
did not once think of that when I was laying in the wood. 

" Only the day before, Dr. Gordon had come running eagerly 
up the stairs with a present for me. 

" Some friend had given to him and his coadjutor, Sir James 
Innes, M.D., two ordinary smoked herring. They had kept 
one for themselves, and here was Dr. Gordon with the other. 

"Dividing my herring, and taking my place on the blue 
satin along with the wood, I drove to the house of a friend who 
lay in bed weak for want of food, and without fire. She had 
four grown-up sons. I sent up-stairs for them, that they might 
come down and carry up the wood ; for, had I left it for a 
moment, it would have been stolen. 

" I called the four youths to me, and made them promise not 
to touch the fish I had brought, and then went up stairs with 
the half-herring to their mother. All this may seem laughable 
now ; but no one laughed then. . . . 

" During the armistice Dr. Gordon got hold of a piece of 
white bread and butter, and gave it to me. The butter I ate 
as if it had been an apple, being quite out of carbon of my 
own by that time. ... I made tea every day ; and Dr. Gordon, 
and Hon. Lewis Wingfield, who was attached to the ambu- 
lance, and was exceedingly attentive and of great service 
during the operations, and Sir James Innes, and any other 
friends who chose, were welcome to a cup when they came 
in. It was also during the armistice, that Col. Stuart Wortley 
gave me several hundred bonds for food he brought over for 
me to distribute among the poor. Albert ate the meat of the 
horse, mule, donkey, kangaroo, and elephant. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



2 9 



"The elephant-steak was pink, like the inside of a conch- 
shell, and the flesh of the finest fibre ; and Dr. Gordon and 
Albert found it excellent. Dogs were two prices : Newfound- 
lands were six francs a pound, and small dogs three francs. 
Two rats ran into our apartment. The man from the court- 
yard came and killed them, and begged them of us for food. 
Rats were then selling for two francs apiece. Yet some people 
have asserted there was plenty of food in Paris. 

" Count Messay asked us to dine on mutton, as he had se- 
cured a leg. The odor was certainly that of mutton, but the 
leg was the leg of the Newfoundland dog ! 

" The Marquis de Jouffroy executed one of the most difficult 
feats of the war. He knew every tree and rock between Paris 
and Versailles, where his aunt lived. He slipped out of Paris, 
unseen, and reached Versailles on foot ; took a bushel-basket, 
filled it with white bread, butter, and chicken, and crept back 
into Paris, with this heavy basket on his shoulder, unnoticed 
and unhurt. His escape — for the Germans threw an electric 
light all the time around Paris — is a marvel to himself and 
his friends to this day. The contents of his basket he divided 
between his aunt, the Countess D , and me." 



Mr. Albert Lee Ward's labors during the siege were 
very exacting, occupying from eighteen to twenty 
hours out of the twenty-four. Three, four, or five 
times a week, he carried the despatch-bag to Versailles ; 
leaving at four in the morning during the severe win- 
ter, and being, during the cold and lonesome journey, 
always under fire from both French and German ram- 
part guns and shells. 

One day, just at daylight, as Mr. Ward was starting 
out with the despatches, he halted at a tavern on the 
road for a glass of water. A bomb-shell struck the 
house, and covered him with plaster and dirt. His 
horse ran away with him, and was only brought up 



30 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

by the barricade at the Pont de Sevres. He was the 
only American incurring personal danger during the 
siege, except from the bomb-shells thrown into the 
city, to which, of course, all were exposed. 

Mornings and evenings he was at the ambulance, 
receiving and helping the wounded. 

He was deputed by Mr. Washburne to release the 
Germans from the prisons ; and, in discharging this 
commission, Mr. Ward took many poor but respectable 
German women who had been shut up with culprits 
of all kinds, — and many of them had lain in these 
holes a month without change of linen, — and himself 
procured the necessaries for them, and placed them 
in convents. 

Among his numerous duties, were those of interpret- 
ing between Mr. Washburne and all foreign officials, 
and of translating Mr. Washburne's speeches and pub- 
lic addresses viva voce into French. As one of the 
three directors of the American ambulance, Mr. Ward 
had frequent communication with the chief officers of 
the Societe de Secours aux Blesses, and, through his 
friendly relations with them, was able to obtain many 
facilities and favors. For example, one day when Mr. 
Washburne had returned to the Legation, after having 
made unsuccessful application for passes, Mr. Ward 
asked permission to go and see what he could do, and 
soon came back with the desired papers. A gentle- 
man at about this time told Mrs. Ward that he had 
been all the morning engaged in translating German 
lettters for the Legation, and that these letters all 
breathed the warmest gratitude to Mr. Ward for his 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 3 I 

varied and untiring kindness ; and, by those most con- 
versant with things in the beleaguered city, he came to 
be spoken of as " the man of the siege." 

At the time of the revolt in October, Mr. Ward 
accompanied Mr. Washburne, incog., to the Hotel de 
Ville, where they would probably have lost their lives 
but for Mr. Ward's presence of mind. A great tumult 
arose just as they were coming out ; and the sentinels, 
hearing the cry of " Spies ! " crossed their guns to pre- 
vent their exit. Mr. Ward sprang forward, and throw- 
ing up the guns, cried in a firm loud voice, — 

" Attention pour son excellence ! " and they were 
instantly permitted to pass. 

While the son was thus engaged, the mother was 
performing noble works of compassion and mercy, 
regardless of difficulty or fatigue, and though already 
greatly weakened by want of proper food. After 
Labouchere had so inconsiderately written to "The 
London Daily News," that the London journals could 
be read at any time lying on the tables of the United 
States Legation, and Bismarck had sent in his em- 
bargo that they must thereafter be withheld from 
everybody except Mr. Washburne, Mrs. Ward never- 
theless succeeded more than once in procuring the 
advertising sheet of "The Times," and copied long 
columns of messages inserted in the hope of their 
reaching the eyes of friends and relatives in the be- 
sieged city. These messages expressed the tenderest 
solicitude and affection, and pleaded for some good 
word or sign in return, if such could by any possibility 
be rendered. Having copied these, Mrs. Ward took 



32 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

them herself to the persons and places indicated. 
Many were addressed to the poorer classes ; and she 
dragged herself up five and six flights of stairs to raise 
these loving souls from despair to joy. They hugged 
her knees, kissed the hem of her dress, and begged 
her name, that they might bear it in their most ardent 
prayers to God, while the tears rolled down the 
wrinkled faces of the old, and the pale, hollow cheeks 
of the young. She did not give her name, but told 
them she was the " carrier-pigeon ; " and often since 
then she has been accosted on the street with the 
sudden cry : — 

" Ah, dear madame, it is you. You are the ' carrier- 
pigeon : ' may God forever bless you ! " 

One young man whom she thus visited had been 
married but little over three months when the siege 
separated him from his wife ; since when, six months 
had supervened without his having the least knowledge 
of her. 

When Mrs. Ward began to read that a son had been 
born to him, and that both mother and babe were 
doing well, his joy was something beyond description. 
He stretched forth his hands, turned pale as death, 
then burst into a ringing laugh, sobbing all the while 
in deep gasps, "Thank God ! thank God ! " 

One very old woman sprang forward with the mo- 
tion of a girl, and clasped Mrs. Ward to her bosom 
when she heard that her husband was alive and well. 
And M. Virot, husband of the famous modiste, was so 
happy at hearing of his wife's welfare, that he pressed 
a donation upon Mrs. Ward for the ambulance. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



33 



There are many Americans who will remember 
"old Mother Busque," whose neat little milk-shop in 
the Rue Michaudiere was an American institution in 
Paris. She was a pale, thin woman, of exceeding 
kindness of heart. She served her customers with 
delicious coffee, and chops cooked as only Mother 
Busque knew how to cook them. Some Americans 
who were interested sent home for receipts for ginger- 
bread, pumpkin-pie, mince-pie, molasses- candy, etc., 
by which receipts Mother Busque soon turned out the 
real American dishes : her buckwheat-cakes were a 
marvel, and her shop became the great eating-place 
for every thing American. 

To the poor and the hungry, especially if they were 
Americans, she gave not only of her wares, but such 
sums as she could spare besides. 

She and her nephew suffered much during the siege. 
Mrs. Ward, who knew her well and appreciated her, 
did what she could to make those dark days lighter ; 
and carried her a few beans or a potato now and then, 
from her own terribly small store, in the hope of keep- 
ing her alive. One day, having just come into pos- 
session of a little bit of cheese, Mrs. Ward hastened 
around to Mother Busque, crying out as she entered, — - 

" I've got something nice for you, mammy ! " 

The nephew in silence pointed to an inner door ; 
and within lay poor kind Mother Busque, quite dead 
from starvation. Soon after, on a cold morning, Mrs. 
Ward in a private carriage, Mr. Huntington the jour- 
nalist, Mr. Albert Lee Ward, and Mother Busque's 
nephew followed the poor hearse to the Montmartre 



34 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

cemetery, where the body of this truly good woman 
was laid to rest. 

I have seen the little card sent by Mr. Albert Ward 
during the siege, to his anxious father and sister Gene- 
vieve then in America, dated "Paris, Jan. 27, 1871," 
and marked No. 75. It read, — 

Beloved Ones, — Mother and self quite well. No shells 
have yet reached our domicile, and not likely to. 
Your loving son and brother, 

Al. 

and was sent "par ballon nionte" borne in the little 
wind -car out and over Paris; and, singularly enough, 
bears its three distinct postmarks, of Paris, Jan. 2 7 ; 
of London, Feb. 3 j and of New York, Feb. 1 7. 

Mrs. Ward called on Mrs. Appert one morning, and 
found Gen. Appert, Prince Bibesco, and other gentle- 
men at breakfast, to whom Gen. Appert said as she 
came in, — 

"Gentlemen, we know we have two true friends 
among the Americans, Mrs. and Mr. Ward ; and I am 
to tell you " (turning to Mrs. Ward), " from Gen. Tro- 
chu, that you are to have the decoration of the Legion 
of Honor, and Prince Bibesco is charged with the 
order." 

Count Clermont Tonerre, Chef du Cabinet du Mi- 
nistere de la Guerre, said he wished Mr. Ward to have 
the cross ; and counselled him to write for it, which 
Mr. Ward declined to do. 

La Societe des Secours aux Blesses sent Mrs. Ward 
and Mr. Ward a bronze cross with a white ribbon em- 
broidered with a red cross, also a letter attesting their 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 35 

great services; and in 1872 the poet Charles Bois- 
siere, president of the Societe" Philotechnique, wrote 
the sonnet to Mrs. Ward, which is prefixed to the 
present section of this work. As Gen. Hoffman, in his 
able and picturesque account of the siege of Paris, 1 
seems not to have known that Mrs. Ward and her son 
were the initiators of the American ambulance enter- 
prise, were faithful and efficient workers from first to 
last in its interests, and finally its saviours from total 
collapse ; and seems also to be wholly uninformed of 
Mrs. Ward's unselfish and courageous labors for the 
relief of the distressed, as well as of the important 
services, both official and voluntary, rendered by Mr. 
Ward during the siege, and to which he sacrificed his 
health beyond any hope of full recovery ; and as in 
Dr. Evans's work on the American Ambulance at the 
Siege of Paris, — a work voluminous enough to accom- 

1 In examining Gen. Hoffman's account of the American Legation's con- 
duct of affairs during the siege of Paris, I have been painfully surprised to 
find grounds for the assertion I have heard from more than one direction, that 
the American Legation was a fruitful source of information to the Germans at 
Versailles. Notably on p. 205 of" Camp, Court, and Siege," Gen. Hoffman 
lightly recounts, that, when at the German outposts, " I met here a young 
American, who was living not far from Versailles, and who was known to 
Count Bismarck. I gave him a couple of morning papers. That evening 
■ he dined with Bismarck, and offered to sell him the papers for a quart botde 
of champagne for the big one, and a pint bottle for the little one. Bismarck 
offered a quart bottle for both; but my American indignantly rejected the 
terms. So Bismarck accepted his, and paid the bottle and a half. I record 
this as the only diplomatic triumph ever scored against Bismarck." 

At the time and on the very occasion when the Secretary of the United 
States Legation gave these " morning papers " to Bismarck's friend, as he thus 
publicly avows, the people permitted to leave the besieged city were signing, 
by order of Minister Washburne, a paper which forbade the passing of letters, 
newspapers, or information of any sort, over the lines, under heavy military 
penalty. 



2,6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

modate full particulars, — there is, so far as I could 
discover in a necessarily rapid but sincere survey, no 
mention whatever of Mrs. Ward, and only a merely 
nominal one of Mr. Ward, — it will, I am sure, be ad- 
mitted that the pages of this little volume are a fitting 
place to make good so striking a deficiency. 

The Wards live when in London at Corda Lodge, 
10 Cavendish Road, St. John's Wood, N. W. Like 
countless other English cottages, Corda Lodge is of 
plain and simple construction ; but the arrangements 
and effects which depend upon the occupant have 
made it a home of art and comfort. Quiet, informal 
habits ; simple furniture ; a few gems among plenty of 
good pictures ; music, books, a painting in process 
under the mother's hand, a bust being retouched by 
the daughter ; political and literary miscellany on the 
table of the son ; two wonderfully clever and pretty 
little dogs ; a parrot in the garden that never squawks, 
but whistles and soliloquizes musically, as becomes a 
bird of artistic associations ; a maid with velvety dark 
Italian eyes, who comes and goes like a picture carried 
by some one else ; a French porter, with hair so duc- 
tile-flat he would have been the despair of Traddles, 
who is exceedingly courteous to his superiors, but is 
overheard indulging in the Flintwinchian propensity 
of running up and generally dosing the hapless cook 
in the most vindictive manner ; the sound of laughter, 
merry and hearty mingling of voices in the chambers 
talking back and forth, and from the drawing-room 
below ; and, as you enter, a welcome of that frank and 
instant sort, such as only the thoroughbred cosmopoli- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 37 

tan knows how to make you feel, — these are the 
spirit and ensemble of Corda Lodge ; named Corda for 
Mrs. Cordelia Sanford, a very dear friend of Miss 
Ward's, and wife of Col. Milton H. Sanford, the gen- 
tleman who first started the notion of taking over 
American horses to England, to compete in English 
races, which recently resulted in the brilliant victory 
won for the American turf by Iroquois. 

One very warm day of June, 188 1, I was sitting in 
the drawing-room of Corda Lodge, talking with Miss 
Genevieve Ward, when I heard a step, light and quick 
like that of a little girl, coming down the stairs and to 
the drawing-room door, and looked up to see an old 
lady come into the room. She stooped slightly, and 
her hair was gray; but her motion was that of the 
freshest youth and unsapped life, and her dark eyes, 
not large but deep, had the mingled flash and twinkle 
which we usually see only in the eyes of childhood. 
She had on her bonnet to go out walking, and lingered 
only for a few words. But the impression made upon 
me in those first brief moments, of a nature in which 
a certain stern Puritan fibre runs like a stem through a 
moral braid of benignity, energy, and quick broad 
human warmth, — and all these sparkled over with 
spontaneous humor, — has deepened with every meet- 
ing and conversation, in which I find the charm and 
depth that was reputed of her conversational powers 
in her youth. 

"If," said the tragedienne to me one day, "if, in- 
stead of being left in her youth to drift with her own 
rich impulses, confused by the multiplicity of her own 



38 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

gifts, my mother had received but half the wise care 
and training she has given me, she could have splen- 
didly distanced all competitors in any one of the great 
departments of art or literature." 

It is little wonder that her family and intimate 
friends admire and revere Mrs. Ward as they do ; for 
a heart more young, and a purpose more robust, never 
in the form of age more calmly smiled at time. Her 
eye is the quickest to see any thing yet undone for the 
good or the comfort of those around her, her hand 
the readiest in the doing of tender and homelike 
things, and her step the lightest footfall heard in 
Corda Lodge. 



SONG OF THE SERF.* 

I know a lofty lady, 

And she is wondrous fair : 
She hath wrought my soul to music 

As the leaves are wrought by air ; 
And, like the air that wakes 

The foliage into play, 
She feels no thrill of all she makes 

When she has passed away. 

I know a lofty lady 

Who seldom looks on me, 
Or, when she smiles, her smile is like 

The moon's upon the sea. 
As proudly and serene 

She shines from her domain, 
Till my spirit heaves beneath her mien, 

And floods my aching brain. 

I know a lofty lady ; 

But I would not wake her scorn 
By telling all the love I bear. 

For I am lowly born, — 
So low, and she so high ; 

And the space between us spread 
Makes me but as the weeds that lie 

Beneath her stately tread. 

1 Written to Miss Genevieve Ward, during her visit to Florence, by 
Buchanan Read. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 4 1 



III. 



ONE of the plainest of babies was the little Gene- 
vieve Ward, born on the 2 7th of the blustering 
month of March, on Broadway, New York. She was 
a very dark and thin little creature, with a wide mouth, 
wrinkled skin, heavy pencilled eyebrows, and thick 
black hair. 

But a few months wrought a great change, and she 
was being carried about from house to house to be 
admired ; and it was the same in Havana, whither 
Mrs. Ward went when Genevieve was nearly two years 
old. 

Sister Teresa, one of the eighteen nuns of the con- 
vent of the Barefooted Carmelites of Santa Teresa, — 
the richest cloister in Spanish dominions, — was an 
old friend of Mrs. Ward's; and, the fame of baby 
Genevieve's beauty having reached the convent, Sister 
Teresa begged to be permitted to show the child to 
the sisters. So Genevieve and her little brother Rob- 
ert were placed, like flowers in a basket, in the turn- 
wheel chair of the convent, swung within its walls, and 
received with tender welcome by the gentle nuns. 

Captivated by the fair skin and Oriental eyes of the 
children, who were exceedingly unlike, and by their 



42 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



fearless smiles and prattling graces, the nuns, after 
having baptized them in the chapel, — giving to Gene- 
vieve the name of Lucia Genoveva Teresa, — made 
them presents of rosaries of pearls and gold ; and with 
these around their necks the tiny convent guests were 
returned to the wicked world, " saved," as the sisters 
said, " and sure of everlasting joy ! " 

The famous cantatrice Madame Damoreau-Cinti, 
then in Cuba, was rehearsing one afternoon in her 
own apartments. Coming to a pause, she was sur- 
prised to hear her strains repeated by a sweet childish 
voice in an adjoining room. This continued until the 
cantatrice, pleased and curious, crossed the passage, 
and, entering Mrs. Ward's apartments, saw a three year 
old baby seated in the middle of a bed, with an im- 
passioned expression on her fair little face, and her 
mouth still round and open with the last notes. 

This pretty episode led to an acquaintance. 

"If this goes on," said Madame Damoreau to Mrs. 
Ward, " bring her to me by and by, and I will teach 
her with pleasure." 

When Genevieve had completed her second year, 
Mrs. Ward took her to Italy ; and from that time until 
she was fifteen, they travelled back and forth from 
place to place, from Texas — where her father owned 
a great deal of land since lost in the war — to St. 
Petersburg. Her earliest recollections are of Paris, 
Rome, and Texas. The scent of a certain white flower 
with a yellow centre (narcissus ?) always brings back 
to her the very look of the Texan prairies where they 
grew. In her fifth and sixth years she was part of the 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 43 

time in Texas, studying the piano under a German 
master, and riding horses, for which she inherited all 
the family love, and no accident or danger has ever 
made her fear or distrust them. One day she was 
riding in company with her father's cousin, Col. George 
Ward, a West Point officer. Away they went over 
the Texan prairies, Genevieve on the back of a fiery 
little mustang. All went well, till they turned home- 
ward ; but her horse had the habit, as soon as it saw 
the stable, of running for it, leaping, hit or miss, over 
gate, fence, or any obstacle between. 

Fortunately the child was thrown just in time t<z 
escape being crushed against the heavy beam of the 
low stable -doorway as the horse went plunging through 
it to his manger. Genevieve was badly hit in the 
breast, and picked up insensible ; but in the very 
moment of returning consciousness she besought her 
cousin to say nothing of the adventure to her parents, 
as she "liked the little beast too well" to give up rid- 
ing him. 

It was owing to these early sojourns in different 
countries, flitting from Paris to Italy, from Italy to 
Cuba, and thence to Paris again, that Genevieve 
acquired, when so young, not only a knowledge of 
the French, English, Italian, and Spanish tongues, but 
an accent in each faultless even in the ears of natives. 

Their old family nurse, Madame Cecile Grisel, a 
Swiss by birth, accompanied them in all their journey- 
ings. She was a large and powerful woman, a Gitana 
in person and habits, with something of the nature of 
Torfrida in her proud independence and uncurbed 



44 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

yet reticent temper. She seemed of no particular 
nationality, but compounded of all ; spoke no language 
exactly, but used an indescribable melange of variable 
patois everywhere understood by the body of the peo- 
ple. She was their cook, nurse, courier, interpreter, 
confidante, and friend, faithful and capable in all, and, 
in their defence from all forms of imposition, equal to 
a regiment of Cossacks. 

Another faithful servant was Madame Giguit, the 
widow of a French physician. She lived in the family 
of Mrs. Ward's grandfather, Major Buffington, then 
with her mother, Laura Buffington Lee, and lastly with 
Mrs. Ward, — a sufficient indication of the nobility of 
the service she rendered. 

During one of Mrs. Ward's visits to Italy, Genevieve, 
then nine years old, was singing Norma by herself in a 
garden in Rome. An artist in a neighboring studio, 
attracted by the voice, came to his window, and was 
surprised to see only a little girl picking violets. After 
looking at her a few moments, he asked, " Will you let 
me paint you as a little angel?" Genevieve shook 
her head promptly in disapproval ; but, giving him a 
second look, she added hesitatingly, "Yes, you may — 
if you won't put any wings on my back : they 'are so 
ugly except on birds." 

He made full-length paintings of her, twice. Her 
conversation, showing, as it always did, a quaint blend- 
ing of direct, almost abrupt, good sense, and sensitive 
artistic instinct, tempted him to ask her all sorts of 
questions, for the sake of her answers ; and once, when 
he asked her if she would have him for her husband 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 45 

when she grew up, he was plumply rejected in these 
candid words, — 

" Oh, no, indeed ! You'll be old and wrinkled then, 
and I like only beautiful people ! " 

This gentleman was the late talented Marquis of 
Northampton, then Lord Compton. She was at this 
time making great progress on the piano, under the 
tuition of the organist of St. Peter's. 

At the age of thirteen, when she was visiting in New 
York with her mother, she was introduced to Mme. 
Sontag. The famous songstress looked at the little 
girl with an expression of reverence. 

" Mein Gott in Himmel/" she cried, bending over 
her caressingly, " how beautiful you are ! Will you let 
me kiss you, my child? " 

Genevieve sang to her; and she took at once a 
warm interest in her future as a singer, advised her as 
to the right steps and methods, and wrote to Rossini 
about her; so that when Genevieve in her fifteenth 
year, and again in Italy, went to Florence to see this 
great maestro, he was so pleased with her beauty, and 
her noble voice, unformed though it was, he took 
her musical education under his protection, procured 
her lessons under Ronzi, then director of the opera in 
Florence, and at a later date, that he might watch 
over her progress, he arranged for her to sing to him 
twice a week, and named her Rossini's " piccola 
consolazione." 

In her sixteenth year Genevieve Ward had grown 
into a maturity and beauty of the most striking kind, 
as the bust made of her at this period by Joel T. Hart 



46 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

testifies : no one would naturally suppose it represented 
the features or expression of a woman under twenty- 
five. 

One day when accompanying her mother on a little 
journey in the South of Italy, they received much 
attention from a gentleman, a short time their travel- 
ling companion, whom they soon after met again in 
Nice, where Miss Ward was as much admired and 
sought for her fine voice, graceful manners, and un- 
usual linguistic accomplishments, as for her beauty; 
and where he was cordially received by society as the 
young Russian nobleman, Constantine de Guerbel, 
bearer, it was reported, of important Russian de- 
spatches, and, beyond question, one of the handsomest 
men in Europe. 

He was exceedingly clever, and had the art of 
impressing himself upon others to precisely the effect 
and degree that he wished. 

He hovered around the beautiful American girl, 
paying to her and to her mother the most delicate 
and winning tribute. It was impossible that he should 
not please ; and he soon made an offer of marriage, by 
letter. Mrs. Ward consulted with her friends ; and it 
was decided that letters of investigation should be 
addressed to Gov. Seymour (of Connecticut), a dis- 
tant connection of the Wards, who was then United- 
States minister to Russia. 

The replies came that Count and Captain Constan- 
tine de Guerbel was a most accomplished member of 
an old Russian family, influential with the Czar, an offi- 
cer of the Czarina's guards, and that no unfavorable 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 47 

rumors were connected with his name. Meantime 
de Guerbel was ardently pressing his suit ; and, shortly 
after the arrival of these fair accounts from Russia, 
they were married in the American fashion, by civil 
contract before the consul with witnesses, Constantine 
especially desiring it out of compliment, as he said, 
to the nationality of his charming bride. 

As there was no Greek Church, either in Nice or 
Turin, the ceremony which alone could make their 
marriage binding with him could not be solemnized ; 
and Constantine, with every apparent eagerness, agreed 
that they should all hasten to Paris, where the Greek 
ceremony could be performed, and his happiness com- 
pleted. 

Genevieve was too inexperienced to feel any dis- 
turbing suspicion of her brilliant and devoted lover : 
but Mrs. Ward was already tortured with doubts ; she 
had received private intimation that the young Russian 
needed looking after. 

She sought an interview with the Russian ambas- 
sador at Turin; but by mistake she was directed to 
the German ambassador, who, on hearing her account 
of the affair, assured her that there must be something 
wrong about the young man, as he could not marry 
without first having obtained the consent of his supe- 
rior officer, and without the observance of certain other 
formalities. 

Hastening back to the hotel, Mrs. Ward confronted 
de Guerbel with indignant reproaches. He faced the 
matter at first with some hardihood, but when Mrs. 
Ward stopped him with the words, — 



48 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

"It's too late for all this. I know you now, and 
you shall never see my daughter again ! " he fell into 
a rage, and treated her rudely. 

After this, he avoided Mrs. Ward, but made every 
opportunity for interviews with Genevieve, and, while 
expressing great readiness to be bound by the Greek 
Church rites, endeavored to persuade her that she was 
quite sufficiently his wife to go away with him until 
that formality could be observed. Fortunately Gene- 
vieve trusted absolutely in her mother, and, though 
tenderly loving the man to whom she was half-married, 
would consent to no step not first approved by her. 

Foiled by this happy confidence between mother 
and child, but not in the least abashed, de Guerbel 
visited the same German ambassador — then acting for 
the Russian government — who had warned Mrs. Ward 
of the doubtfulness of the young Russian's proceed- 
ings, and in a few moments had so successfully exerted 
his marvellous personal fascinations that the ambas- 
sador became his admiring advocate, and was for the 
time quite turned from his sympathy with the Wards. 
And this magic spell was exercised in spite of the 
ambassador's certain knowledge that some of de 
Guerbel's pretensions were baseless, nota"bly that of 
his being intrusted with special despatches ; for, had 
this been true, the ambassador must have been offi- 
cially notified of it. 

With matters in this unsatisfactory state, the two 
parties set out for Paris. Mrs. Ward, on the truthful 
plea that water travel made her very ill, insisted on 
going by land ; de Guerbel was equally resolute for a 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 49 

trip by water. The mother and daughter reached 
Paris first, where they again met with the cantatrice 
Madame Damoreau, whose singing had been so pret- 
tily imitated by the baby Genevieve, in Cuba. 

She recalled her promise, and at once received the 
young girl into her class in the Conservatoire ; but, 
the system being necessarily adapted to a medium 
grade of talent, requiring years for the completion of 
its course, Genevieve retired from the class to proceed 
more rapidly as Mine. Damoreau's private pupil. 

Meantime came the season of Lent, during which 
the Greek Church ceremony could not be performed ; 
and with it the tardy bridegroom, delayed, as he said, 
by adverse winds and opposing currents. 

De Guerbel behaved, however, with so much amia- 
bility, and with such an inimitable assumption of being 
the aggrieved party, that everybody was quite won 
over to his side, and even Mrs. Ward was influenced, 
against her well-founded objections, to receive him 
with something like a return of favor; of all which 
effect he availed himself to try again, and as vainly as 
before, to induce Genevieve to go away with him 
secretly. 

Mrs. Ward's youngest son, Robert, the same who 
was baptized with Genevieve by the Carmelite nuns in 
the Cuban convent, was staying with his mother and 
sister in Paris, and used to be even more with the fas- 
cinating Russian at his hotel than with Mrs. Ward and 
Genevieve at theirs ; for de Guerbel had done all in 
his power to attach the handsome and enthusiastic 
boy to his interests. So it happened that Robert Ward 



5<D GENEVIEVE WARD. 

was with de Guerbel in his bedroom one morning, 
when an officer entered, and arrested him as he lay in 
bed, — for some offence to the Czar, as it was after- 
ward rumored ; large quantities of blank passports were 
found in his possession, and he was put beyond the 
frontier. 

Some months of total ignorance as to de Guerbel's 
whereabouts or movements passed away. Genevieve's 
spirits, and even her health, had suffered from the 
strain of a position so anomalous and painful. 

While this was the situation in Paris, an old friend 
of the Wards, M. de Bois le Comte, late French min- 
ister to Washington, arrived in Italy on a visit to his 
daughter, the wife of M. de Soulange, charge d ' affaires 
at Naples. One day, when walking out, M. de _ Bois 
le Comte met the Countess Schakoshkine, wife of the 
Russian ambassador, who, after the usual words of 
greeting, exclaimed, — 

" Wish me joy, for my daughter is going to make a 
great marriage." 

" Indeed ! to whom? " 

"To Lieut.de Guerbel." 

"Which one?" cried M. de Bois le Comte, elec- 
trified. 

" To Constantine, of course ; the handsomest and 
noblest young man in the courts of Europe." 

"But Constantine ! why, he is already married ! " 

"Oh, nothing of the kind," said the countess indig- 
nantly. "We know all about that trumped-up story." 

" I beg your pardon," persisted de Bois le Comte, 
very gravely ; " but I, myself, put the young girl — she 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 5 I 

was Miss Genevieve Ward — into the train, to go to 
Russia, to look into her husband's affairs." 

" It cannot be ! " murmured the countess, pale, and 
deeply disturbed ; " it must be some American trick." 

He assured her that it was indeed true, and that the 
young lady had actually gone with her mother to Rus- 
sia, to ask the Czar to have the marriage made null 
and void. 

Countess Schakoshkine hurried to her husband with 
these terrible tidings ; but, before the latter could reach 
either the police or Constantine, that dazzling scape- 
grace was far away in his yacht, leaving a hundred 
thousand francs of debts behind him. 

His personal gifts had served him well; he had 
enjoyed the admiration and the confidence of the 
cleverest and best ; he had been entertained by the 
royal family : but the esclandre was complete ; and 
another young American girl, lovely and trusting, to 
whom he had engaged himself in Nice, lay dying for 
his sake, of a broken heart, in the midst of prepara- 
tions for her wedding with him. 

This at Nice and Naples ; while in Paris, after due 
waiting, by the advice of our London and Paris minis- 
ters, both friends of Mrs. Ward, and of Baron Brun- 
now, Genevieve, with her mother and brother, had 
actually set out for Russia in the bitter midwinter cold, 
to seek justice at the hands of the autocrat. 

Papers, letters, and other documents concerning 
the case had been previously intrusted to a member of 
our legation, on his representation that he could use 
them advantageously in seeking Gov. Seymour's and 



52 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the Czar's interest in Genevieve's claims. Wishing to 
take these papers to Russia with them, they asked for 
them back, and were refused ; but when Gen. John A. 
Dix arrived in Paris, his concise message to the gen- 
tleman brought back the papers at once. 

Being by this partial marriage with de Guerbel put 
in the singular position of being neither an American 
nor Russian, Genevieve could not obtain a pasGport 
from either the American or Russian legations ; and 
the" difficulty was overcome by her going on her 
brother Robert's passport, he having been made bearer 
of despatches for the purpose. 

The journey was not only attended with great dis- 
comfort, but with various kinds of danger. From 
Konigsberg to Riga they travelled in the intense cold 
in open boxes on runners, from which they had to 
change every two hours, so that they barely began to 
get warm in one of these boxes, before it was neces- 
sary to step out into the snow, and climb into another. 
On the second day after leaving Riga, where they had 
obtained a carriage, they encountered a long train of 
sledges laden with iron bars from the immense foun- 
deries of Russia. By Russian law a private convey- 
ance has the right of way. 

The driver of the first sledge was not on hand : 
Mrs. Ward's coachman therefore touched the horses 
with his whip to turn them aside. They reared and 
backed, and the heavily laden sledge was upset. The 
serf driver heard the hubbub, and, running up just in 
time to witness the disaster, flew at Robert Ward, 
flourishing his whip. Other peasants ran up, and, 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 53 

joining with the sledge- driver, upset the carriage of 
the Wards. Robert helped up the coachman, and 
drew a revolver. At this truly critical moment the 
sergeant of cavalry in command of the sledge-train 
galloped forward, and cut down the serf driver, and 
assisted the ladies out of the upset vehicle. The most 
abject submission, instantly on the sergeant's appear- 
ance, fell upon the group of peasants, who fairly tum- 
bled over each other in their eagerness to set the 
carriage straight and assist the Wards into it. 

On reaching St. Petersburg they were most kindly 
received at the American embassy by Minister Sey- 
mour, who already knew not only from themselves, but 
from Baron Brunnow and the London and Paris min- 
isters, of the conduct of de Guerbel. After consulta- 
tion, Minister Seymour advised their remaining quiet 
at the embassy as his guests, and not at once petition- 
ing the Czar. Meantime balls, receptions, and parties 
should be prepared for Genevieve's introduction to the 
society of the Russian capital, where her youth, beauty, 
genius, and noble accomplishments would create for 
her a public as well as personal sentiment, of great 
advantage when her real purpose in visiting the city 
should be developed. 

But in the very beginning of this programme a grave 
difficulty arose. 

On hearing the name of Madame Constantine de 
Guerbel, the chief of police, Gen. Dubbelt, declared 
there was no such person, and that the lady who had 
ventured to assume that name must leave Russ.'a 
within three days. 



54 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

All was consternation at the embassy ; but then, as 
always when wisdom, skill, and instant executive power 
were needed, the mother came forward. Well in- 
formed in political affairs, this brave and keen-witted 
woman knew that Russia, at that date, did not need 
any more trouble on her hands. 

"Come with me," she said to Minister Seymour: 
"I have something to say to the chief of police." 

Minister Seymour went with her, and presented her 
to Gen. Dubbelt as being with her daughter under his 
protection. Gen. Dubbelt listened to Mrs. Ward's 
statement without credence, reiterating that • they must 
leave Russia immediately. Seymour looked exceed- 
ingly distressed, feeling that the time was too short for 
any hopeful action or decision. 

"Then," said Mrs. Ward, looking full at Gen. Dub- 
belt, " it is time for me to say, that, since the simple 
plea of an unprotected stranger does not avail, I must 
assure you that this is not what you think. It is a 
national, an international, affair. My daughter is of 
an old American family, and has both friends and rela- 
tives in positions of influence with our government, 
who will not be inactive in her behalf. According to 
American law, she is Madame Constantine de Guerbel, 
and has an undoubted right to visit St. Petersburg 
under that name." 

The dignity and gravity of Mrs. Ward's words and 
manner impressed Gen. Dubbelt ; and he made answer, 
after a few moments' thoughtful silence, that he would 
think it all over, and see what could be done ; and 
permission was soon received for Madame Constantine 
de Guerbel to remain at the embassy. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 55 

Soon after, Gen. Sabouroff, brother of the grand 
chamberlain, gave a grand ball at which Madame de 
Guerbel appeared. Count Kamaroffski, own cousin 
of Constantine de Guerbel, was present ; and, pointing 
her out among the dancers, said to a friend, — 

"There is a most wonderful girl here to-night, 
beautiful and fresh as a damask rose. Where can she 
have come from? Who can she be?" 

The friend, who was informed, replied with a 
smile, — " Do you not know ? She is Madame Con- 
stantine de Guerbel ! " 

" What do you tell me ! " cried Kamaroffski, " but 
Kostia's x not married?" and he hurried away from 
the scene in search of Gen. Daniel de Guerbel, the 
elder brother of Constantine, to whom, when he had 
found him, he excitedly exclaimed, — 

"Well, have you heard the latest sensation? Kos- 
tia's wife — his wife — a most beautiful young Ameri- 
can girl, is at Sabouroff s ball, turning everybody's 
head ! " 

" Pshaw ! That's only the hundredth story of the 
kind ! " But the next day Gen. Daniel de Guerbel 
called at the embassy to inquire into the startling 
rumors. 

Minister Seymour received 4iim, and told him the 
whole story, and presented him to Mrs. Ward and her 
daughter. Gen. de Guerbel behaved admirably, ex- 
pressing to Genevieve his regret that she should have 
ever met his scapegrace brother, at the same time 
acknowledging her as his sister-in-law in a very grace- 
ful manner. 

1 Kostia, familiar diminutive of Constantine. 



56 GENEVIEVE WARD, 

He did not, however, conceal his hope, that, since 
it was evident she could neither love nor wish to live 
with Constantine, she might, for the sake of protect- 
ing an old and noble family from public scandal, be 
induced to forego her original design in coming to 
Russia. She would certainly receive brilliant offers, 
and could make a marriage equal to the highest 
ambition. 

But Madame de Guerbel could not consider things 
in this light. She explained to him that she was a wife 
in American law ; that she and her mother had been 
abused and maligned by Constantine in the most 
active, ingenious, and unscrupulous ways. He had 
everywhere used, and was still using, his irresistible 
personal fascinations to destroy their claims to consid- 
eration. He had avowed that the story of the American 
marriage ceremony was a pure fabrication ; that Mrs. 
Ward was not even Genevieve's mother, but a clever 
woman of equivocal social standing, who had secured 
control of the young girl's fate in order to rise to rank 
and wealth by means of her great beauty ; and that, 
with this in view, they had planned the bold scheme 
of the St. Petersburg visit. Thus Gen. de Guerbel 
could see that it was not only for the sake of having 
her marriage sanctioned by the Greek Church cere- 
mony that they had come, but because nothing short 
of that could successfully refute calumnies so artfully 
and ably disseminated. 

The dignity and courage of the young girl charmed 
Gen. Daniel de Guerbel, who from that moment for- 
bore to press any consideration touching the feelings 



. GENEVIEVE WARD. $J 

of his family, and treated Madame de Guerbel and her 
mother with unvarying kindness and distinction. On 
one occasion during a grand fete at Pavloffski, the 
summer residence of the Czar, Madame de Guerbel, 
leaning on the arm of her brother-in-law Gen. Daniel 
de Guerbel, passed along the principal promenade in 
front of the Grand Duke Constantine's party. The 
grand duchess called the general aside, and asked with 
much interest, — 

" Who is that beautiful girl with you ? " 

To which he replied so that Genevieve could hear 
it, " My brother Constantine's wife." 

The de Guerbels were originally" a noble Swiss 
family, who went over from Switzerland to Peter the 
Great ; the first of the family being an admiral. Con- 
stantine's father was a general aide-de-camp to the 
late Czar, his uncle Prince Koudascheff was court 
chamberlain, and he himself an officer in the late 
Czarina's guards. His mother, the Princess Kouda- 
scheff, was the most beautiful woman at the court of* 
Nicholas, where the whole family were in high favor. 

It will be seen that patience, courage, and never- 
failing tact were necessary to the situation in which 
the Wards were placed, in a strange land with a pur- 
pose certain to be felt as at variance with its strictest 
social precedents and prejudices ; and, had these qual- 
ities not been possessed in a remarkable degree by 
every one concerned, the sequel must have been very 
different. 

The weeks flew by. Madame de Guerbel pursued 
her musical studies with Rubini's nephew. Rubini 



58 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Gallinari; her voice, her lovely manners, her exqui- 
sitely tasteful simplicity of dress, and the romantic 
mystery in which she was involved, made the lovely 
young American the talk of the capital ; but, so far as 
her real object was concerned, things seemed painfully 
at a stand-still, when suddenly the court minister, Count 
Adlerberg, called on the American minister. 

When he was announced, Gov. Seymour with agita- 
tion said quickly to Mrs. Ward, — 

" Now is your chance. Lay the whole matter 
before him." 

Count Adlerberg listened to them with attention and 
apparent interest, but said nothing to sensibly relieve 
their suspense in having taken the initiative step on 
which so much must depend. But on a Saturday 
soon after Count Adlerberg's visit, an aide-de-camp 
was ushered in at the embassy, who approached Mrs. 
Ward, and asked, — 

"When can Madame Constantine de Guerbel re- 
ceive Prince Dolgorouki?" 

Mrs. Ward observed a change in Minister Seymour's 
face : she pointed to her daughter, — 

"That is Madame de Guerbel." 

Genevieve, instantly conscious by the manner of the 
others that the moment was one of great import in her 
affairs, cleverly replied, — 

" Prince Dolgorouki's hour shall be mine." 

As soon as the aide-de-camp was gone they both 
said in a breath to Gov. Seymour, — 

" We saw how your face changed. What does this 
mean?" 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 59 

" It means that something must indeed be transpir- 
ing in your affairs ; for Prince Dolgorouki is a very 
great personage, the nearest to the Czar, and such a 
thing as his coming here to call on a private individ- 
ual was never before heard of." 

On the next Wednesday, as they sat around the 
table, Prince Dolgorouki came in. He was a beauti- 
ful old man. He walked up to Madame de Guerbel, 
who had become exceedingly pale, and, laying his 
hand kindly on her head, said, — 

"Well, my little girl, tell me all about it." 

They had just received a letter from M. de Bois le 
Comte, describing Constantine's conduct in Naples, 
his false engagements to the dying American girl, and 
to the daughter of Countess Schakoshkine, and of his 
flight and debts. 

" You know of M. de Bois le Comte," said Madame 
de Guerbel, handing the letter to Prince Dolgorouki. 
"Will you read this?" 

"Yes, he's a sad good-for-nothing," said Prince 
Dolgorouki, after reading 'and returning the letter; 
" and I'm very sorry you ever met him, my little girl ; 
but what is it, the Czar asks, that you now wish to have 
done ? " 

"Tell the good Czar," said Madame de Guerbel, 
with much emotion, " that I wish to have my marriage 
sanctioned by the Greek Church, so that as a true 
marriage I may contest it, and obtain a * divorce, and 
be honorably free from this man." 

"Well," replied the Prince, smiling very kindly on 

1 All this is in Russian archives. 



60 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

her, " I will tell the Czar exactly what you say, and 
we'll see ; in the mean time have courage." 

Their suspense was now the greater for the hopes 
of success they could not but feel from Prince Dolgo- 
rouki's visit. In a few days he came again, and told 
them that the Czar had said it was not in his power, 
as head of the Church, to recognize the marriage as it 
now stood, nor in his power to dissolve it ; but if she 
desired it he would send out a special ukase for Con- 
stantine's return to Russia, and insist on the perform- 
ance of the Greek ceremony. 

Madame de Guerbel expressed the deepest gratitude 
for the Czar's kindness. 

"But when this is done," she added, "I wish it 
understood that I will never live with Count de Guer- 
bel. He has endeavored to degrade us in everybody's 
eyes ; and I cannot indorse his calumnies by living 
with him. Will you tell this to the Czar? " 

Without making any direct reply to this burst of 
feeling, Prince Dolgorouki explained to them that 
their next step, in the Czar's opinion, was to go to 
Warsaw, and there await his majesty's further direc- 
tions ; and then bade them a kind farewell. 

As according to Russian law she would be under 
obligation to live with her husband for two years 
before seeking a divorce, the Czar's silence relative to 
her determination to leave Count de Guerbel at the 
altar immediately after the ceremony gave her painful 
uncertainty as to the final result of all their trouble. 

They lived opposite one side of the palace; and, 
knowing that the Czar and Czarina were about to 
leave the city, the anxious girl said, — 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 6 1 

" Let's get up early, mother : we may see the de- 
parture." 

So, looking from their windows early in the morn- 
ing, they saw the royal family in an open barouche, 
and the Czar leaning forward to arrange his son's 
necktie. 

At the same moment, as if recollecting that he was 
near the American embassy, he looked up and saw 
Genevieve and her mother at their window. He 
smiled, and waved his hand to them in friendly recog- 
uition. 

This little omen quieted their fears. " It's all right, 
I know it, I feel it," they said to each other, and made 
ready for their journey to Warsaw. 

It has been said that Miss Ward gained admission 
to the Czar, and, throwing herself at his feet, implored 
him to see her honor vindicated by the Greek Church 
sanction of her union with de Guerbel. With the ex- 
ception of the occasion just mentioned, Miss Ward 
never saw the Czar but once, and that was soon after 
their arrival in St. Petersburg. They went out walking 
together, accompanied by their dogs, a King Charles 
and a Blenheim spaniel. Having heard absurd stories 
that Russians were hereditary dog-thieves to a man, 
they were anxious at the notice their pets seemed to 
attract, particularly at that of a Russian officer driving 
in a droshky without ornaments or trappings. The 
horse was jet black, and very handsome ; and the har- 
ness as well as the dress of the officer, though simple, 
were elegant. This officer looked at them in such a 
way. as he drove by, they were quite sure the dogs 
were the cause of his observation. 



62 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Three times they met this droshky, and the last time 
the officer bowed and smiled from out his muffling 
furs. 

Puzzled and annoyed, they acknowledged his salu- 
tation reservedly, but seeing an officer who stood near 
them uncover with great reverence to the inmate of the 
droshky, and observing also that several ladies of high 
position made haste to throw up their * veils as he ap- 
proached, they made inquiry, and, to their confusion, 
found it was the Czar himself whom they had been 
regarding as a probable dog-thief ! 

On arriving in Warsaw, the Wards found that Prince 
Gortschakoff, brother of the present vice-chancellor, 
had received full orders from the Czar, and a special 
ukase had been sent to each Russian ambassador for 
the apprehension of Constantine de Guerbel. 

Meantime a new complication arose in Paris. Mad- 
ame de Guerbel's father, Col. Ward, had reached that 
city on his way to them. Soon after being shown to 
his apartment, he was waited upon by Constantine de 
Guerbel, who, first expressing in the most graceful 
terms his joy at meeting the honored father of his 
beautiful wife, assured him that it was all a misunder- 
standing, he had been basely misrepresented, and de- 
clared himself ready and eager to do any thing a father 
could ask to prove the sincerity of his assertions, — 
provided only that Col. Ward would telegraph for 
Madame de Guerbel to return to Paris, which Col. 
Ward, quite convinced by and delighted with his son- 
in-law, forthwith promised to do. 

1 In Russia the poor people kneel, wherever they may be, when the Czar 
appears; and the nobility make profound obeisance, ladies raising their veils. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 63 

The very next day Baron Brunnow arrived in Paris, 
and, calling also on Col. Ward, speedily learned the 
clever trick of Constantine, and enlightened Col. Ward 
as to the true character of his fascinating son-in-law. 
Yet so great had been the impression made by him 
upon Col. Ward, he was still inclined to think some 
explanation possible ; and, though when a member of 
the Russian embassy served the imperial ukase upon 
de Guerbel, he raged, and cursed the Czar and Russia 
and every thing and body else with violent impartiality, 
he had the power to induce Col. Ward to fulfil his 
promise of the previous day, and telegraph to his wife 
and daughter to come to Paris. 

The response signed by Mrs. Ward and Genevieve 
came as follows : — 

" We have passed our word to the Czar : let Constantine 
obey the Czar also." 

Three times Col. Ward was induced to telegraph, 
but Mrs. Ward held firm. Then Constantine begged 
Col. Ward to go to Warsaw and see Prince Gortscha- 
koff, and find out if it were the imperial intention to 
punish Constantine in any way if he obeyed the ukase. 
If he were not to be punished, Col. Ward was to tele- 
graph for him, and he would come. 

Col. Ward hurried off to Warsaw ; and, on being as- 
sured by Prince Gortschakoff that no orders had been 
received for Constantine's arrest, he telegraphed to 
the latter as agreed. 

Therefore, on a Saturday when Mrs. Ward and her 
daughter had been some months in Warsaw, the 



64 GENEVIEVE WA.RD. 

recreant de Guerbel arrived, and at once sent a note 
to Madame de Guerbel, in which, for the first time, he 
called her his wife, and signed himself " your affection- 
ate husband, Constantine de Guerbel." 

He had habitually spoken of her everywhere mock- 
ingly as "Miss Genevieve." 

This letter was despatched immediately to the Czar 
as affording positive proof of the verity of their claims. 
The next day de Guerbel had a stormy interview with 
her parents, protesting with astounding effrontery 
against the proceedings as summary and unfair; at 
the same time affecting pleasure at the prospect of 
meeting his wife again. 

In the afternoon he was received by Madame de 
Guerbel in her mother's presence. 

It was a singular interview. 

He approached her with expressions of ardent admi- 
ration and delight, to which she remained quietly and 
coldly silent. At last, subdued in spite of himself, he 
exclaimed with some chagrin, "But is it not very 
strange, since you are so cold to me, that you yet 
desire to marry me? " 

"So far as it has been in your power, you have 
dragged our names through the mud," she replied. 
"You shall rehabilitate them ! " 

"Well, all right ! " he retorted quickly. "We shall 
be very happy. You are a very beautiful woman. 
We'll go to my plantations in Little Russia ; and your 
father can come to see us — not your mother, she's 
done this ! I have the horses and dogs you like, and 
you'll be a great card at court." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 6$ 

The wedding had been arranged to take place on 
the morrow, Monday. Prince Gortschakoff had given 
directions for the ceremony, and had furnished the 
usual four groomsmen from his own staff, and had 
given to Madame de Guerbel the Czar's special pass- 
port permitting her, as Madame Constantine de Guer- 
bel, to leave Russia with her parents, even in the event 
of Constantine's not having been found. 

In the yard of the hotel where they were staying, 
their travelling- carriage, strapped with their luggage, 
stood in readiness for starting the moment they should 
get back from the ceremony ; for, if they had given 
him any time after that took place, he could, by Rus- 
sian law, have arrested and locked her up, fed her on 
bread and water, or beaten her, had he so chosen to 
do. 

On Monday morning as ten o'clock, the hour set 
for the marriage, drew near, Count de Guerbel called 
at their hotel to ask if it might be deferred for an hour 
to make way for a funeral. They assented ; and at 
eleven o'clock, Genevieve, dressed in black silk, with 
a black lace shawl thrown over her head, accompanied 
by her parents, entered the Greek cathedral in Warsaw. 

The Archbishop Novitzki of Warsaw had received 
orders to celebrate this marriage. In the vestry, the 
usual form, pledging that children born of this union 
should be brought up in the Russo-Greek Church, was 
signed. The altar was dressed in the middle of the 
church, which was filled with people. It was a very 
dark and shadowy interior; from a high window a 
single veiled ray of sunlight fell, and rested, singularly 



66 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

enough, only upon the bride, leaving the others in 
more pronounced gloom. 

According to the custom, the contracting parties 
held each a lighted candle. The one held by de 
Guerbel burned poorly, and was shaking about ; while 
the one held by Genevieve burned clear and as if in 
the hand of a statue. 

One of the groomsmen whispered to Mrs. Ward, 
" Why, your daughter is in black, and it looks like a 
funeral." 

"I consider it a funeral," was the mother's reply. 
The Wards' story had been well noised in Warsaw, 
during the months of their waiting ; and no one, not 
even those unprejudiced by Constantine's insinuating 
slanders, and in sympathy with the trying position of 
the mother and daughter, had believed that these two 
American women could get themselves righted thus, 
alone and in a foreign land. It had been feared that 
Constantine might, at the last moment, frustrate the 
Czar's purpose by hiring some one to interrupt the 
ceremony, in which case it could not have been com- 
pleted. When this apprehension was hinted to Col. 
Ward and his son, Col. Ward replied, — 

" Well, we are of course nobody in Russia ; but, if 
Mr. G — tries that, I'll shoot him dead at the altar ! " 

"And if father's aim fails, mine shall not ! " added 
young Robert Ward. " It would be the only way left 
to avenge my sister." 

But in the midst of a stillness so deep it seemed as 
if the beating of the heart could be heard, the cere- 
mony proceeded to the end. At its close the arch- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 67 

bishop came forward, and kindly congratulated the 
bride. She thanked him in a low voice, and, coldly- 
inclining her head to her husband, took her father's 
arm; Mrs. Ward stepped to her other side, saluted 
the groom in the same cold manner, and they moved 
down the aisle. The crowd of witnesses seemed para- 
lyzed. One of the ladies of the court stepped for- 
ward, and whispered to Mrs. Ward, — 

" I never thought you could accomplish this : God 
be praised ! " 

They descended the church steps, — Constantine 
following them as one in a dream, — entered the car- 
riage, and were driven away, while he yet stood on the 
church steps. And, in less than five minutes after 
reaching their hotel, they were whirling away to the 
train, and were out of Russia before the bewildered 
bridegroom could set about getting a police-warrant 
to arrest his bride. 

Towards the end of their journey en route for Milan, 
they went by night in a diligence down the hill to 
Trieste. The way was narrow, on one side a deep 
precipice, and they felt timid. 

"But do you go to sleep, dear mother," said they 
to Mrs. Ward, "and we will watch." 

After some time Mrs. Ward waked up to find that 
the rest were all sleeping, and, on looking out, dis- 
covered that they were flying at a mad pace down the 
mountain, and both driver and leaders were gone. 

She roused her husband and Robert, who sprang 
out, and seized the horses' heads barely in time to 
stop their plunging headlong over the precipice. 



68 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Col. Ward took the missing driver's place, and there 
was no more sleeping. At the first village they 
reached, they stopped and waked the people, asked 
them to search for the poor fellow and horses, who 
had undoubtedly either been thrown over the abyss, or 
rolled off in sleep ; got new horses and postilion, and 
drove into Trieste. 

When the news of the marriage, and of their im- 
mediate flight from Russia, was known in St. Peters- 
burg and Warsaw, and it was seen, that, instead of 
reigning as a belle in the distinguished circles in 
which her marriage entitled her to appear, Madame 
de Guerbel had only sought the single justice of the 
rehabilitation of her own good name, it was felt that 
no more than justice had been done, and that her step 
in coming to St. Petersburg, instead of being unwar- 
ranted assurance, had been an act of modesty and 
heroism. 

She never sought for a divorce, because she felt no 
desire to marry again. She accepted nothing but their 
friendship from her husband's family, and scorned to 
make any claims to his estates. 

During the year passed in Russia, Madame de Guer- 
bel received eleven offers of marriage, many of them 
very brilliant ; but she was not to be turned from her 
purpose. She kept a list of her lovers, and when they 
proved too persistent would turn to it, and ask de- 
murely, — 

" Let us see, what number is yours? " 

When Constantine de Guerbel was fourteen years 
of age, his commanding officer said of him, that he 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 69 

had all the vices of a full-grown man, and seemed to 
know as much. He was so eminently handsome, that 
the empress made him her page, and a portrait of him 
hung in the palace. 

He bore a remarkable resemblance to the Czar 
Nicholas, only his complexion and eyes were dark. 

When only seventeen years of age, he ran away in a 

yacht with the wife of Gen. W , taking goods to 

the amount of many thousand roubles. 

The government, being informed, sent out a steamer 
and caught him. He was confined in the fortress for 
three months, but was allowed the society of his 
friends, and all kinds of luxuries. He seemed always 
to escape any severe punishment. His personal power 
with both men and women was something inexplicably 
great. He was able to embarrass and lethargize the 
reasoning faculties, while intensifying the emotional. 
The Saxon minister in Paris, Count de Seebach, who 
had charge of the Russian Legation, was thoroughly 
deceived in his favor at the time of his conduct in 
Paris, and as thoroughly undeceived when heavily 
cheated by him in some money transactions. 

He was a completely dissipated man, and before his 
thirty-fourth year had lost the use of his legs. 

About a year after the flight of the Wards from 
Russia, a man forced his way into their apartments in 
the Rue de Rivoli, Paris, during their temporary ab- 
sence one morning, scared the servants, and opened 
and ransacked things generally, and went away leaving 
word that he was Constantine de Guerbel, and should 
call again that evening. 



yo GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Mrs. Ward went to her old friend M. de Bois le 
Comte, and he went with them to the chief of police 
and then to the Russian minister, to see what could be 
done. As a result, two gendarmes were placed at the 
foot of the stairs leading to their apartments ; and, 
when de Guerbel called, he was informed that if he 
annoyed Madame de Guerbel any more, he would be 
sent out of France. The next day he sent an huissier, 
commanding her to return to him and live with him as 
his wife. 

But the French court decided the verdict against 
him on the precedent of a case tried there only the 
year previous, in which, the contesting parties being 
both aliens on French soil, neither could be forced by 
French law to live with the other. 

He was told that he must go to Russia if he wished 
to institute a legal process to oblige her to live with 
him. This unwelcome advice, together with the pros- 
pect of having to pay for the pleasure of annoying his 
wife, effectually silenced him. 

Years later, when Madame de Guerbel was giving 
singing-lessons in New York, a friend wrote to her 
from Nice, — 

" Who, think you, sits next me at table, but Count Shouva- 
loff and Daniel de Guerbel? The latter tells me that his 
brother Constantine died at Pisa." 

Of Constantine's four brothers, only one lives. 
Serge de Guerbel, who was cashiered and entered 
the ranks as a common soldier, was so brave in the 
Crimean war that at his death he was re-instated, ad- 
vanced in rank, and decorated in his coffin. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. J I 

His sister, a beautiful woman, wife of Gen. Stahl 
d'Hoistein, governor of the eastern frontier of Poland, 
is living now in St. Petersburg. 



LINES TO GENEVIEVE WARD. 

WRITTEN IN FLORENCE. 

Within this far Etruscan clime, 
By vine-clad slopes and olive plains, 

And round these walls still left by Time, 
The boundaries of his old domains ; 

Here at the dreamer's golden goal, m 
Whose dome o'er winding Arno drops, 

Where old Romance still breathes its soul 
Through Poesy's enchanted stops ; 

Where Art stills holds enchanted state, 
(What though her banner now is furled ?) 

And keeps within her guarded gate 

The household treasures of the world, — 

What joy amid all this to find 
One single bird, or flower, or leaf, 

Earth's any simplest show designed 
For pleasure, what though frail or brief, — 

If but that leaf or bird or flower 
Were wafted from the western strand, 

To breathe into one happy hour 
The freshness of my native land ! 

That joy is mine : the bird I hear, 

The flower is blooming near me now, — 

The leaf that some great bard might wear 
In triumph on his sacred brow. 

For, lady, while thy voice and face 

Make thee the Tuscan's loveliest guest, 

Within this old romantic space 
Breathes all the freshness of the West. 



Buchanan Read. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 7$ 



IV. 



THE romantic story of her Russian journey and 
marriage had reached Italy, where, on her 
return to Milan, Madame de Guerbel was warmly re- 
ceived by many new as well as old friends. It was 
known that she had not only defeated the schemes of 
a very bad man, at the same time winning the esteem 
and friendship of his proud family, but that in reject- 
ing every right to which her marriage entitled her, and 
retaining only her vindicated name, she had given 
indubitable proofs of her noble singleness of purpose. 

Col. Ward, having seen them comfortably settled, 
returned to his business affairs in America; and 
Madame de Guerbel resumed her singing lessons under 
the direction of San Giovanni (the same who sang in 
America with Madame Alboni) : she also took up draw- 
ing and painting, and in all these arts made such rapid 
and certain progress, that Mrs. Ward, in the somewhat 
unusual despair of having to choose between a diver- 
sity of splendid aptitudes, brought the matter to a point 
by telling her daughter that she might take a week to 
choose which study she would devote herself to. 

" For you can only do one of these arts justice," 
said she. " Therefore make a choice, and avoid my 



?6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

mistake. I have absolutely excelled in nothing, be- 
cause I was allowed to dabble in all." 

At the end of the week Madame de Guerbel said, 
"Music!" 

The Italian poet Uberti, of Milan, an original bris- 
tling all over with characteristics, a mad republican, 
whose brain, seething with revolutionary instincts, 
germinated class and national imbroglios ; a man also, 
or perhaps one should say consequently, of kind 
heart and mild personal impulses, and a vivid inter- 
preter of artistic ideals, — was engaged by Mrs. Ward 
to teach Madame de Guerbel the physical part of 
declamation. 

"I remember Signor Uberti so well," said Miss 
Ward to me. " He used to prepare little pieces, idyls, 
expressly for me. He would first read them to me, 
teaching me the proper look and gesture by his own 
manner. Then I studied these scenes by myself; and 
at lesson-time he would read them, leaving the look 
and gesture for me to do. One of these scenes was 
about a corsair, who sails away from his lady-love : a 
terrible storm comes up, and his little boat is wrecked ; 
he is washed ashore, and she is in utter despair. I 
used to get along all right, until the moment when her 
woe and horror are to be expressed in one frenzied 
exclamation : here I disappointed him, until one day 
he stamped his foot, and glared at me ; and perfectly 
desperate, the blood rushing into my cheeks and the 
tears into my eyes, I wrung my hands, and made the 
very cry he wanted. ' Ah ! ' he cried excitedly, ' that's 
the corsair's bride indeed.' " 



GENEVIEVE WARD. J J 

By this method he taught her three operas, " Nor- 
ma," " Lucia," and " Semiramide." At last, one day, 
he came to Mrs. Ward, and said, — 

" My dear madame, I am not a thief, and I can't 
go on taking money for giving lessons to your daugh- 
ter. I can't teach her; no use!" and was going 
away as abruptly as he had come. 

But Mrs. Ward detained him, exclaiming indignant- 
ly, "Why, — why can't you teach her? I know she's 
bright ! " 

" Bright ! " cried the old poet, turning back, a tinge 
of chagrin blending with his genial smile. " Ah, yes, 
madame ! she is bright, — so bright that Uberti can. 
teach her nothing more. She already interprets for 
herself better than any one can teach her." 

She was now just entering her eighteenth year, and 
her determination to go upon the operatic stage met 
with some opposition from her family, who still thought 
a divorce should be procured, that the way to a happy 
and fitting marriage might be open ; but Madame de 
Guerbel was permanently impressed against the mar- 
riage idea ; and Gen. John A. Dix, Baron Brunnow, 
and other friends, wisely supported her in her choice 
of a career for which her superb physical vitality and 
her rich mental and vocal endowments so well quali- 
fied her. 

It was at this date, that the Archduke Maximilian 
saw her one day at the opera. He gazed at her for a 
long time as if no one else were visible ; and, when he 
passed her in going out, he bowed with an air of gen- 
uine homage, murmuring, — 



?8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

" Belle comrne un ange / " 

Wishing to secure a first-class, unprepossessed, criti- 
cal judgment, to determine whether or not she could 
become a really great singer, she talked the matter 
over with her mother, and it was agreed to put it tc 
the test in a novel manner. 

Madame de Guerbel dressed herself in the gar- 
ments of a poor girl of the people, and completed the 
disguise with a pair of ugly green goggles. Mrs. Ward 
made herself up as an old family-servant, and they 
went to the rooms of the great Lamperti. 

As they entered the master's salon, a class was still in 
attendance ; and Lamperti in a rage was banging about, 
striking his piano with such force that the wires rattled 
and twanged, and shaking his pupils by the shoulders. 

These proceedings filled the young girl with appre- 
hension : but there was no turning back ; Lamperti had 
seen her, and was already advancing. 

"Well ! " said he, pausing directly in front of her, 
"who are you? and what do you want? " 

Preserving an easy exterior, she looked straight 
through her green goggles, and replied, — speaking 
artfully in Italian patois, — 

" I can't pay you well, signor ; but I must learn to 
sing, to sing perfectly, so as to support myself. I 
know I can act /" 

"So, so?" said Lamperti. "Who's with you? You 
did not come alone? " 

" No, signor : my nurse is waiting for me." 

" Why do you wear these things? Take them off" 
(pointing to the goggles) . 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 79 

" No, I cannot do that yet, — not till my eyes are 
stronger." 

Lamperti turned over some music, and gave her a 
little air to sing. When she had finished, he stood 
a few moments looking at her in silence, and then 
said, very brusquely, — 

"Yes, you can sing: I'll teach you;" then, after 
another pause, he asked, " What part of Italy do you 
come from? " 

"Ah!" she replied quickly, "you know by my 
accent, but of course study will correct that." 

He perceived that his question was parried, but did 
not for a moment imagine her patois was not genuine, 
or that it was with American wit he was fencing. 

She came regularly to her lessons, dressed in her 
plain, poor clothes, with scrupulous care, and attended 
by her nurse. Her progress pleased him; but she 
mystified him, especially when she insisted on paying 
the full tuition. 

" I thought you could not pay so much," said he. 

" I must pay you," she replied, " because, when my 
tuition is completed, I must belong to myself : I must 
be free to make my own terms for my voice." 

She was exceedingly diligent, and this had made 
him habitually milder to her than to his other pupils ; 
but one day, when he was particularly irritable, he 
struck her suddenly across one hand with the pencil 
he held. He had been accustomed to see his pupils, 
some of them girls from old and noble families, cringe 
and weep under his severity, with no notion of resent- 
ing it. Madame de Guerbel rose from the piano, 



80 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

drew herself up, and looked at him quietly, with an 
air almost of contempt. He bowed, — for him an 
apology, — and said, in a low voice, with a satirical 
yet respectful accent, "You are a lady ! " 

The lesson went on without further comment. The 
next time she appeared without the goggles, but other- 
wise maintained to the last the role she had assumed. 
Whether her eyes enforced the mute rebuke of the 
previous lesson, or not, Lamperti never again treated 
her uncivilly. 

The next year, in the midst of her brilliant successes 
as the cantatrice Madame Guerrabella, — for into this 
flowing word the Italians had changed the name de 
Guerbel, — she met her old master, and told him the 
whole story of the way in which she had made sure of 
his unbiased opinion of her powers, and obtained the 
benefit of his instruction. 

" I always knew there was something," said Lem- 
perti ; " but you kept it perfectly, — only once when I 
lost my temper." 

" Ah ! you were very wrong, because I did not de- 
serve it," she said quickly. " I was careful : I obeyed 
you exactly." 

"Then, suppose you had deserved it " — 

" Not even then : you forget that I am an Ameri- 
can." 

She sang first in Milan, at La Scala, in "Lucrezia 
Borgia." When the curtain rose, and Madame Guer- 
rabella came forward, to the surprise of every one not 
in a certain high box, she was greeted with hisses. 
She walked to the footlights, and, folding her arms, 
looked up to the box calmly in silence. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 8 1 

She had finished her vocal studies with Lamperti, 
unquestionably the greatest teacher in Milan. Her 
former teacher, San Giovanni, meanly irritated by this, 
had taken this box, and, with the party hired to assist 
in the expression of his spleen, now stood up, and 
redoubled the hissing. The audience seemed spell- 
bound, until an old gentleman in the pit sprang up 
and exclaimed, " For shame ! " The audience emphat- 
ically applauded this protest. With a fine color in 
her cheeks, Madame Guerrabella slowly unfolded her 
arms, and began to sing in a silence stirred by no 
other sound until, with the closing cadences, the audi- 
ence broke into enthusiastic cheers, and the high box 
was discovered to be vacant. 

But her real debut was at Bergamo, where, during 
the carnival season, her appearance in Pacini's opera, 
" Stella di Napoli," inspired one of the most splendid 
popular ovations ever tendered to a young artiste ; and 
on her return to Milan she was engaged on proud 
terms to sing in the chief theatre at Trieste. On 
reaching Venice, en route for Trieste, she was met at 
the railway- station by a secretary of the director with 
whom her contract was made, who said, in a matter- 
of-course way, — 

" We have, after all, been unable to secure the thea- 
tre at Trieste ; but we hope you will kindly open the 
opera here in Venice instead." 

The Italians of the kingdom of Venice were at that 
time very generally united in their determination not 
to support, either opera or other gayeties, because of 
the unhappy situation of the Venetians under Austrian 



82 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

dominion. Madame Guerrabella, perceiving at once 
what lay behind so considerable and abrupt an altera- 
tion, and that she was to be used to trick the Vene- 
tians out of their patriotic resolutions, referred to her 
contract, and replied, — 

" My engagement is for Trieste, and I must decline ^ 
to alter it." 

" Do not refuse, madame," said the secretary, losing 
his studied indifference, " but accept upon your own 
terms : make them what you will, and I am author- 
ized to assure you that the governor of Venice, Count 
Toggenburg, will come himself, and ratify any proposi- 
tion you may choose to make." 

" My engagement is for Trieste," she repeated ; and, 
as no train was returning immediately to Milan, she 
went to a hotel. 

The persistent secretary soon followed, and, on 
being admitted, again urged her with every variety of 
argument, and splendor of inducement, to reconsider 
her decision. 

Madame Guerrabella, who loved Italy and the Ital- 
ians, remained firm ; and the secretary, losing temper, 
manners, and honesty also, seized the contract lying 
on the table at her side, and tore it in pieces, exclaim- 
ing,— 

"You will be obliged to sing, madame, — you shall 
see ! " 

"Very well," said Madame Guerrabella : " I will do 
what I am obliged to." 

At four o'clock the next morning, hours before the 
secretary had any idea of calling on her, she felt 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 83 

"obliged" to take the train for Milan, where she was 
received with acclamation. Count Correr, of the Com- 
mittee of Venetian Emigration, together with Count 
Meroner, called to thank her, in the name of the com- 
mittee, for her brave fidelity to Italy's cause, and made 
her citizen of Venice. Messages of affection and 
gratitude flowed in from known and unknown sources 
during the day : she received an immediate engage- 
ment to sing at the Carcano (Milan); and, on the night 
of her appearance, her reception was not unlike such 
as a liberated people might render to a queen-liberator. 

Her success was complete. She continued at La 
Scala, and at concerts in Milan and Paris. At one of 
these, given by the Baroness Von Meyendorff, the 
Parisian critic Jules le Comte wrote : " A lady whose 
real name has been Italianized into Guerrabella was 
heard with great surprise and delight. She is remarka- 
bly beautiful ; and, when we could no longer listen to 
her exquisite voice, our eyes were still bounden sub- 
jects to her beauty." 

During this visit to Paris she went to see her kind 
friend and protector Rossini, who was at his counts- 
seat in Passy. She rehearsed " Semiramide," he 
accompanying her ; and at the close, when she timidly 
asked the great composer, — 

"Could I venture at the Italiens?" he kissed her 
forehead, and, taking both her hands in his, replied, — • 

" Tell them Rossini says no one can sing it better, 
and no one look it so well, regina mia / " 

This was the last farewell : she never saw him again. 

Her debut at the Italiens was successful. She 



o4 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

sang in " Semiramide," "II Trovatore," "I Puritani," 
" Lucrezia Borgia/' Elvira in " Don Giovanni," in " La 
Traviata," etc. ; and the French and Italian jour- 
nals wrote glowing encomiums. Once, when she was 
singing as Elvira with Mario in Paris, he retreated 
before her instead of attacking her. " Why did you 
do that? " asked Frezzolini ; to which Mario replied, — 

"I could not stand the fire of Elvira's beautiful, 
angry eyes." 

She studied with Moderati (now in New York, and 
the delight of the Coney-Islanders), and Mrs. Ward 
took her to Madame Persiani. The latter, having 
listened to the young girl's singing, — who had given 
months of practice to acquiring the famous Persiani 
trill, — exclaimed, — 

" She is already perfect. I can teach her nothing. 
I can only give her my fioraturas! " 

Rubini-Gallinari passed the same verdict. Madame 
Persiani, who was not only a great artiste, but a woman 
of lovely character, became Madame Guerrabella's 
firm friend, and one of the most true and discriminat- 
ing admirers of her talents. 

In July of the same year, of Col. Ward's appoint- 
ment to the United States consulate at Bristol, Eng- 
land, "The London Illustrated Times" announced 
that, — 

" Madame Guerrabella, a young singer, with an admirable 
soprano and a perfect method, has just arrived, and is to sing 
at Madame Sala's x private concert with the ' English skylark,' 
Miss Louisa Pyne, and other eminent vocalists." 

1 George Augustus Sala's mother. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 85 

She sang also at the Queen's Concert Rooms for 
the benefit of the Warwick- street schools, but she 
made no public debut in England at this time : her 
singing, however, made a permanent impression of the 
highest character on the comparatively few who heard 
her. 

The next season she was again singing in the capi- 
tals of Italy and France, and with such triumph that 
the entire Continental press found space to signally 
comment thereon. Her pronunciation of the Italian 
and French languages was such that she was claimed 
in both countries as a native, and her American origin 
scouted as a fiction. 

The French and Italian art-critics, Fabien, Fitali, 
Chadeuil, and Fiorentino, the great critic of the world 
at that time, and regarded as the scourge of artists, all 
wrote sparkling leaders concerning her grand and ver- 
satile powers. "The London Spectator" then took 
up the cry : — 

" The French and Italian papers are very demonstrative in 
favor of Signora Guerrabella. It is only two years since she 
began her career ; and already she is an established favorite, 
and is greeted with the utmost enthusiasm wherever she makes 
her appearance. At Turin and Milan she has recently been 
the reigning star; and the reports of her success have been 
followed by substantial offers of engagements from several 
quarters, — among others, from Constantinople. The Italian 
critics say that since the days of the great Pasta, no one has 
equalled La Guerrabella; and the praise they lavish on her 
voice, acting, and personal beauty, is confirmed by private 
letters." 

Poets wrote verses to her. Artists followed her 



86 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

from place to place, petitioning to be allowed to paint 
her ; sculptors prayed for the honor of modelling her 
arm and hand, which were especially and classically 
beautiful. 

One fine model of her hand, 1 in marble, rests on a 
little velvet cushion in a cabinet at Corda Lodge. 

One of the most unique personal tributes received 
by her at this period was paid by the venerable Maxi- 
milian, Count de Waldeck, painter to Napoleon the 
Great. He told her that seeing, and listening to her 
recalled to his memory the ancient ode to Sappho, 
which he had not seen for over fifty years. Seating 
himself at her writing-desk, he wrote as follows : — 

SAPHO. 

{Reprodtnt de souvenir.) 

Written at the age of one hundred and eight by Count Waldeck, who was 
painter to the first Napoleon; after not having seen the verse for over fifty 
years. 

Heureux qui pres de toi pour toi seul soupire 

Qui jouit du plaisir de t'entendre parler 

Qui te vois quelquefois doucement lui sourire 

Les dieux dans ce bonheur peuvent ils m'egaler ? 

Je suis heureux enfin sitot que je te vois 

Et dans les doux transports ou s'egare mon ame 

Je ne saurais trouver de langue ni de voix 

Un nuage confus se repand sur ma vue 

Je tremble et je me sens interdite eperdue 

Et puis partout mon corps une brulant flamme ! 

Je circule, et je tombe en de douces langueurs 

Un frisson me saisit ! je tremble ! je me meurs ! 

And, handing it to her, said, — 

1 By Joel T. Hart, the American sculptor, who did her bust. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 87 

" Here it is as you make me recollect it." When 
he went away he took the paper with him, and copied 
the verse correctly from the printed text, on its other 
side, as follows : — 

(D'apres le texte retrouve.) 

Heureux ! qui pres de toi, pour toi seule soupire 

Qui jouit du plaisir de t'entendre parler; 

Qui te vois quelquefois doucement lui sourire 

Les Dieux dans son bonheur peuvent ils l'egaler ? 

Je sens de veine en veine une subtile flanime 

Courir partout mon corps, sitot que je te vois; 

Et dans les doux transports, ou s'egare mon ame, 

Je ne saurais trouver de langue ni de voix. 

Un nuage confus se repand sur ma vue ; 

Je ne sens plus ; je tombe en de douces langueurs 

Un frisson me saisit . . . je tremble . . . je me meurs ! x 

Max., Cte. de Waldek. 
A Mademoiselle Ward. 

and returned it to her. A graceful attention from an 
artist one hundred and eight years old ! 

In autumn of the same year, an English journal 
published in Bristol relates that — 

" Madame Guerrabella of Milan, being at Clifton on a visit, 
and feeling her heart glow within her as she heard of the sym- 
pathy displayed by the English in behalf of beautiful but too- 
long-oppressed Italy, generously offered an evening's services 
in aid of the fund being raised for the illustrious liberator; and 
the proffered favor being gladly accepted by the friends of 
Italian independence resident here, other aid was asked and 
secured, and the concert was arranged." 

1 Traduit et defigure par Oussius. Louis XV. poss^dait l'original, tres 
ancien, ecrit sans distinction de vers, sans ponctuation, et sans ortographie. 



88 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

"The London Chronicle" commented thereon, — 

" The Bristol papers are emphatic in reporting the appear- 
ance of Mile, de Guerrabella at a concert in aid of the Gari- 
baldi Fund in Bristol. The occasion was indeed remarkable. 
Mile. Guerrabella is by birth an American : she is barely 
twenty years of age, but she has already achieved for herself 
a distinguished name as a prima donna at La Scala. Speak- 
ing of her performance, a local paper says : ' She sang in a 
manner we have never heard surpassed ; and her vocalization 
quite equalled Sontag or Alboni. Her voice is much more 
extensive than either, including three octaves ; and her constant 
flights, 'do, re, mi,' above the lines, took her audience mani- 
festly by surprise, and proved her to be of that rare class now 
to be found — a pure soprano. 

" She has been distinguished in Italy, not only for her noble 
singing, but for her determined refusal to sing under the patron- 
age of the Austrian government at Venice, which resorted to cu- 
rious manoeuvres for the purpose of securing the young singer." 

Soon after the Garibaldi concert, which, as will be 
shortly seen, was not the only favor Madame Guerra- 
bella showed to the Italian patriot, she left England to 
fulfil a three-months' winter engagement at Bucharest. 

While sailing down the Danube on the way thither, 
she noticed that the captain of the steamer, an Eng- 
lishman and an exceedingly kind and courteous gen- 
tleman, seemed abstracted and depressed. At the 
outset of the trip she had also observed five Hunga- 
rians on deck, who had after a little time disappeared. 
When the voyage was about half accomplished, she 
made an opportunity to approach the captain. 

"You are very anxious about something," said she. 
"Is it about the journey? If it is any thing about 
which a woman could help you, I should like to try." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 89 

The captain smiled with a momentary look of 
relief; but his kind face quickly clouded over as he 
replied, — 

" I have five Hungarian noblemen on board : you 
observed them, of course, by their costume. They 
wished to join Garibaldi. But we shall have to change 
steamers to go over the rapids at the next frontier 
town, my steamer is so large, and the water is unfor- 
tunately very low." 

"I noticed the gentlemen," said she; "but I 
haven't seen them for some little time." 

"Yes, that's it. They have got to go back, poor 
/ellows ; and I had agreed to do my best to pass them 
off as stokers. They are down in the stokers' hole 
now." 

"Oh! I don't think they'll have to do that," said 
Madame Guerrabella. "Just wait, and let me talk 
with my brother." 

It was her young brother, Robert Ward ; x and he 
had his despatch-bearer's passport. When they had 
consulted together she returned to the captain, and 
said quickly, — 

" We've arranged it : we'll take them over with us." 

" Impossible ! It can't be done with so many," 
exclaimed the captain. 

" Yes, it can," cried she. " Listen. They are my 
brothers : they are all going with me on our Amer- 
ican passport. Go tell them. Send them to me." 



1 This young man, who possessed rare talents for music, painting, and 
drawing, died of consumption at Algiers, whither Mrs. Ward went with him 
in tenacious but vain hopes of his recovery. 



QO GENEVIEVE WARD. 

The captain shook his head, but carried her mes- 
sage to the refugees in the stokers' hole, who received 
it with delight, and, resuming their Austrian costumes, 
rushed up on deck to thank their young benefactress. 

She at- once unfolded her plan. 

" I am your sick sister," said she ; " and you are my 
brothers. I will teach you a few phrases and excla- 
mations in English. Don't utter a word beyond — 
especially not a word of German, which would betray 
us all." 

She then gave them a little well-adapted lesson in 
English, training them sharply; and after having 
assisted them with cloaks, hats, and other items of 
disguise, put a copy of "Bradshaw " in the hand of one, 
and taking the arm of two of the five Hungarians 
began walking the deck slowly, as if feeble and weary. 

" Now," said she, as they approached the frontier 
town, "your role is solely this, — devotion to and 
anxiety for me ; and attend to the cue I have given 
you. If you don't, you'll get your sister into prison ! " 

The officials came on board at the town. The ruse 
worked smoothly for the disembarkation : but when 
they were told it would be some hours before the 
other boat started, Madame Guerrabella feared the 
delay might prove a strain too great, and asked per- 
mission to go at once on board with her brothers, who 
did not speak German ; as she felt so ill, she desired 
rest in her cabin. She asked this favor with so win- 
ning a mixture of timidity, respect, and physical 
weakness, that it was granted with little hesitation. 
The officer, who examined her passport just before 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 9 1 

the boat started, could make nothing of it, and seemed 
inclined to quiz her : she answered him, however, in 
bad German, with a sweet and sad expression, so that 
he went away quite satisfied. 

When they started, it appeared that the new captain 
was more suspicious ; and Madame Guerrabella, in- 
stantly perceiving this, feigned an access of illness, 
and went down into the ladies' cabin, peevishly de- 
manding the attendance of all her brothers. 

"This captain suspects," said she in a low voice. 
" I must keep you here as long as I can ; but I shall 
have to flirt with him desperately before we are through 
with this affair ! " 

Presently they went again on deck, Madame Guer- 
rabella supported by two of her brothers, another held 
her wraps, the rest were occupied with pillows, cush- 
ions, and books. She affected to be too ill and nervous 
to be left for a moment. 

As they passed the captain, who was observing them 
very gravely, Madame Guerrabella almost impercep- 
tibly paused, and threw him a glance, half petulant 
and languid, yet altogether of such dazzling sort, that 
the good captain was lost from that moment. 

" How very beautiful your sister is ! " he said the 
next day to one of the Hungarians, who in his whole- 
souled admiration and gratitude was near to spoiling 
all by a fluent panegyric in German. A darting rebuke 
in the eye of Madame Guerrabella warned him just in 
time to enable him, with an awkward "Um-um" 
and a deep bow, to turn away. She took care, with 
never-failing vigilance, to keep them employed with 



92 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

her countless invalid wants, and to be always scolding 
and fretting at them semi-arTectionately when any one, 
especially the captain, was near ; contriving at the same 
time to thoroughly captivate and bewilder that gentle- 
man with her beauty, her smiles, and her prettily- 
murmured bad German, to such an extent that it was 
a wonder they ever, by his guidance, came straight to 
Giurgevo. 

As they approached this point, she saw they could 
ill repress their joy : so she had them all into the cabin 
once more, and lectured them soundly on the too little 
care they were taking of their faces. 

" It is not yet Bucharest," said she. " Here you've 
been looking solemn as Moses all the way, worried to 
death for your sister ; and now all at once you look as 
if you had come in sight of the promised land ! All 
will be lost if you are so careless now. Besides, the 
captain is a clever fellow ; and I'm not at all sure what 
he thinks, or means to do." 

But, whatever the captain may have thought, he 
parted with them kindly at Giurgevo, having evidently 
felt that any oversight on his part had been fully com- 
pensated by the fascinating presence of the beautiful 
invalid. 

From Giurgevo they went by diligence to Bucharest. 
There they were safe ; and there the five Hungarians 
fell on their knees in the street, and thanked her, cov- 
ering her hands with tears and kisses of gratitude. 
Had this daring ruse failed, all would have been sent 
to prison. 

As soon as Mrs. Ward learned of this incident, she 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 93 

wrote to her daughter, charging her to be sure, if 
trouble came of it, to let the Hungarian government 
know that the blood of the " good king Matthias Cor- 
vinus " flowed in her veins. 

In explanation of this : One day, years ago, Hon. 
Tom Corwin called on Mrs. Ward, then in Washing- 
ton, and claimed relationship with her through the 
Wards, with whose ancestors the Curwens, or Corwins, 
of Salem, Mass., had intermarried. During his call 
Mr. Corwin related that he had just been visited by 
two Hungarian officers, who had been sent by the 
Hungarian people to offer him the crown of Hungary. 
It seems, that, in the archives of Hungary, there had 
been found some letters addressed to their beloved 
sovereign, Matthias Corvinus, known in history as the 
"good king Matthias," by a cousin of his majesty's, 
who settled, under the name Curwen, 1 in America, and 
founded a family there. 

The Hungarians felt, that, in their heavy struggle 
with Austria, a leader of the house of the " good king 
Matthias " would indeed be of happiest augury for 
their cause ; and the discovery of these letters resulted 
in the invitation to Mr. Corwin, as the most distin- 
guished living descendant of the Corwin — and Ward 
— intermarriage, to assume the crown of Hungary. 

The offer was twice made, and twice declined ; Tom 
Corwin deeming it to be the greater honor and nearer 
duty to be the head of his party in America. 

Hence Mrs. Ward's advice to her daughter, in case 

1 The Curwen house is still standing in Salem, Mass., or was within a few 
years. 



94 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the latter should find herself in any danger from her 
unselfish services to the Hungarian refugees fleeing to 
the service of the flag of Garibaldi. 

Of her visit to Bucharest, a letter, dated there and 
published in a New York journal, said, — 

" We have been more than fortunate this winter in securing 
for our opera the beautiful and gifted prima donna, La Guerra- 
bella. She made her debut in the ' Traviata,' and is thought by 
all here to be the best Traviata ever seen. Her success was 
great. The reigning prince evinced his .admiration by applaud- 
ing loudly; and the audience, by their repeated calls, proved 
her to be already their favorite. She next sang ' Elvira,' and 
such a furore is rare : she was called out innumerable times, 
and covered with flowers. The cavatina was a perfect triumph ; 
and after the last trio the public did not seem to know how to 
express sufficient admiration. She is a splendid dramatic singer 
and actress. She next sang ' Rosina,' in the ' Barber,' and had 
another ovation ; such a lovely, piquant, Spanish girl is difficult 
to find. She introduced Rode's air, which was given most ex- 
quisitely; and when you heard her singing like a bird, and 
recalled the powerful, thrilling notes of ' Elvira,' you could 
hardly believe it was the same person. In a few days we shall 
have her in the ' Torquato Tasso.' The great point of this 
young lady's acting (for she is very young) is, you never see 
her, but the character she personifies. Her voice is essentially 
dramatic, and is of such a rich, telling character that in the 
ensembles it towers over all. I have not said much of La Guer- 
rabella's beauty, for I believe she enjoys a European reputation. 
I will only add that her smile is something wonderful. It fas- 
cinates, it sinks into your heart, and makes you feel joyful ; and 
long after she has passed from your sight you feel it still. She 
sings in five languages, is highly accomplished in painting, and, 
withal, is simple and unaffected in manner, always doing some 
kind and generous act. May Heaven bless her wherever she 
goes ! " 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 95 

From Bucharest she returned to England, and 
studied oratorio with the great oratorio- contralto, Mrs. 
Martha Groom, who had been a protegee of Mrs. Sid- 
dons. Mrs. Groom, like all Miss Ward's teachers, 
was delighted with the earnestness of her pupil, who 
studied with an industry only the best health could 
have sustained. At the close of her lessons Mrs. 
Groom presented Madame Guerrabella with a lock of 
hair she had received from Mrs. Siddons, who had 
clipped it herself from among her soft white locks. 

The next year Madame Guerrabella's debut in Eng- 
lish opera was made at the seventh Philharmonic con- 
cert of the summer season. The programme comprised 
Beethoven's symphony " Eroica," and Mendelssohn's 
in A, known as the Italian ; together with concertos, 
overtures, and vocal music, admirably selected. Pro- 
fessor Sterndale Bennett conducted ; and in the audi- 
ence sat the venerable Ignace Moscheles, friend and 
contemporary of Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Hummel, 
Weber, and Spohr, most of whom had composed mu- 
sical works expressly for the Philharmonic Society, 
then in its forty-ninth year of well-merited success and 
fame. 

" The vocal music was specially interesting,' ' said a 
leading journal the next morning, "inasmuch as it 
introduced to the London public a prima donna of 
great Continental celebrity, — Signora Guerrabella, who 
sang the beautiful aria ' Qui la voce ' from the ' Puri- 
tani ' with undeniable grandeur of style and rare com- 
mand of vocal resources. Her voice is remarkable for 
its power, and her feeling and expression are eminently 



g6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

dramatic. In quality, this lady's voice reminded us 
very much of Grisi's in her palmy days, whilst her 
execution is equally true and facile. A more success- 
ful debut has rarely been made in this country." 

Three days later she sang in St. James Hall, at the 
annual grand concert of Mrs. Anderson, pianiste to 
the Queen and teacher of the royal children, and a 
classic performer of great ability. Her concerts were 
always considered the most brilliant and fashionable 
events of the London musical season ; and on this 
occasion, besides her own superb pianistic display, 
there was singing by Giuglini, Mile. Titjens, the well- 
remembered and beloved Parepa, and Madame Guer- 
rabella, the debittante who was heartily applauded and 
encored. 

Then came the eighth and last Philharmonic concert 
of the season, at which the aged Moscheles appeared 
as a performer. His playing " of his own concerto in 
G-minor" (said George Augustus Sala in "The Lon- 
don Illustrated News "), "one of his finest works, was 
followed by acclamation and thunders of applause from 
every part of the crowded room, prolonged several 
minutes after he left the orchestra, and quite exciting 
enough to have overpowered one less accustomed to 
public enthusiasms. . . . Rossini's great air from ' Se- 
miramide,' ' Bel-raggio,' was superbly sung by Signora 
Guerrabella, the young singer newly arrived in Eng- 
land, who made a furore at the last Philharmonic, a 
still greater furore at Madame Anderson's annual, and 
last night materially increased her growing fame. She 
is an embodiment of the most charming characteristics 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 97 

of literature and art, speaks nearly as many languages 
as Pic de la Mirandole or Cardinal Mezzofanti ; and, 
besides singing, draws, paints, sculpts, and dances with 
genuine merit, and is the young and beautiful heroine 
of one of the strangest and most romantic dramas of 
real life which could be matched anywhere in ' Les 
Mysteres de la Russie.'" 

The "Daily News," "Morning Chronicle," and other 
journals were equally cordial in her praise. All opin- 
ions concurred as to her great dramatic talent ; and her 
familiarity with the stage was assumed and asserted as 
a fact accounting for her astonishing ease and grace, 
though she had in reality never played, except in 
opera. The press were not alone in their courteous 
welcome to the young debutante. Letters of con- 
gratulation and invitation poured in, and she was in- 
vited to sing at the Duchess of Northumberland's and 
at other distinguished private gatherings. At one of 
these, Hogarth, the secretary of the Philharmonic So- 
ciety, and the operatic critic of the day, was asked for 
his opinion. 

"What do I think of her?" he repeated. "Why, 
what every one must think. It's not enough to call 
her the new Grisi ; for she is a better singer, and far 
more beautiful, than Grisi ! " 

She debuted in Royal English Opera at Covent- 
Garden Theatre, as Maid Marian in Mac Farren's 
opera of "Robin Hood." Her success was estab- 
lished as an opera-singer of the very first quality and 
rank. Her audiences, both select and large, applauded 
her to the echo ; and the daily press continued to 



9» GENEVIEVE WARD. 

indorse the public verdict. Even "The Athenaeum/' 
notably incapable of enthusiasm, remarked that " a lady 
more elegant in appearance than Madame Guerrabella 
is not on the London stage. Her voice is a soprano 
of sufficient compass and power. She sings with re- 
finement and feeling, and appears to have been trained 
according to good methods. Her action, too, is grace- 
ful and sufficient." 

It was noticed, that she played the famous heroine 
Maid Marian, not as it had been conceived in previous 
representations, as a country girl, ill qualified to rouse 
men to admiration and consistent action; but as a 
lady of rank and station, filled to inspire the ambitious 
love of Robin Hood. 

This quality of interpreting character on the highest 
plane compatible with the artistic limitations of the 
case has, from first to last, admirably distinguished 
Miss Ward's dramatic conceptions : as in her latest 
achievement as the Marquise de Mohrivart, in " For- 
get Me Not," we have not the vulgarly artful, quasi- 
pretty, and wholly blase woman of the demi-monde ; 
but the far more subtle interpretation of a thoroughly 
and skilfully bad woman, who is at the same time a 
perfect lady, graceful, finished, and dangerous not by 
ill-concealed vice, but by penetrating charm and re- 
finement. 

Her impersonation of Maid Marian brought her 
many private congratulations. 

Mrs. Hogarth, wife of the critic, wrote : — 

" I must congratulate you on your splendid success last even- 
ing. Mrs. Dickens and Helen were with me ; and we really did 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 99 

not know which most to admire, your lovely singing, energetic 
graceful acting, ox yourself. We were talking it over at break- 
fast this morning, and saying what a splendid career is before 
you, and how many parts you will do beautifully." 

A word came from Mrs. Cropsey, wife of the Ameri- 
can painter : — 

" I have heard of your great success in ' Robin Hood,' from 
several friends who were present. They say you were splendid. 
I am so delighted when any of our countrywomen or men make 
a success in London ! " 

The celebrated actress Fanny Stirling, who taught 
Madame Guerrabella in " Maritana," wrote cordial 
congratulations, closing with : — 

" You are on the high road to fame and fortune, all that 
makes life pleasant. There is but little left to do for you by 
any one, or by yours truly." 

The following : — 

" Dear Friend, — I cannot allow many hours to transpire 
before I congratulate you on your great and decided success 
last night. Our party — six in number — expressed the same 
opinion. Indeed, I do not see how it could be otherwise. I 
had all my eyes open, both mentally and bodily, as well as my 
opera-glass, so as to find fault — but all in vain. All you have 
now to do, is to go on and prosper, which is a sure result^ 

was written by W. J. Newton, miniature-painter to the 
Queen. He presented his painting in ivory, of the 
" Coronation," to the National Gallery. 

At this period her father's consulate at Bristol ex- 
pired, and " The Daily News " said, — 

" The retiring consul leaves Bristol with the regret and the 
respect, not only of his own countrymen, but of the numerous 



IOO GENEVIEVE WARD. 

friends to whom he has endeared himself by his courtesy and 
gentlemanly bearing, — his tact and ability in the discharge of 
duties often delicate and difficult. During Col. Ward's resi- 
dence among us, the American trade has increased to an un- 
usual extent. In the nine months ending September last, the 
value of cargoes imported at Bristol has exceeded four and 
one-half millions ; the number of vessels has been 105, and the 
tonnage 67,026. The total imports of the Bristol Channel for 
the same period reached to $5,266,680; the vessels were 406, 
and the tonnage 261,999. As many as 6,500 seamen have come 
under the care of the consulate, and we do not recall an 
instance where the interference of the magistrates has been 
necessary. To Col. Ward, indeed, belongs the credit of having 
raised the consulate to a position of dignity, efficiency, and im- 
portance, which has surprised every one acquainted with the 
circumstances. He will especially be missed by the poor sea- 
men in sickness or distress; to whose needs and wishes he was 
ever kind and attentive ; paying for them always at the general 
hospital instead of giving, as he might, a subscription only for 
their admission as patients." 

Madame Guerrabella's success as Maid Marian 
was followed by an equal triumph in "Maritana." 
During the holidays she sang in "The Messiah," at 
Exeter Hall, appearing for the first time in oratorio. 
The hall was hung in black for the death of the Prince 
Consort, and the audience was composed of the most 
distinguished people then in London. 

Moved deeply by the solemnity of the occasion, 
Madame Guerrabella sang " I rejoice greatly " with 
such passionate animation and power, her thrilled 
audience gave way before it, and she was tumultu- 
ously encored, being the first artiste who ever received 
that honor in singing this part at Exeter Hall, where 
encores are never allowed. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. IOI 

"The News," "Musical World," "Chronicle," "Tele- 
graph," "Post" — all the journals — were unanimous 
and emphatic in their praise. She appeared in Dublin, 
Manchester, and the provinces during the winter and, 
ensuing spring, singing with increasing favor in " Lu- 
crezia Borgia," " Semiramide," and "Maritana;" her 
" Qui la voce " and " Bel raggio " especially drawing 
unbounded approval from all critics and all publics. 

There is abundant testimony that there was a pecu- 
liar quality in her singing, apart from all that art could 
lend it, that endued it with certain singular and special 
memorable effects. Madame Colmache, with whose 
both strong and brilliant pen the readers of French 
and English journals have been familiar for the last 
quarter of a century, tells me that these effects were 
produced in people of the most differing temperaments 
and occupations. Only recently a gentleman of stu- 
dious and aesthetic tastes, a listener to Grisi, Parepa, 
Alboni, and Lind, asked Madame Colmache if she 
knew what had become of a Madame Guerrabella who 
used to sing in London. 

" Of all the fine singing I have ever heard," said 
he, " the tones of that lady's voice remain with me." 

To their surprise, a blunt Scotch body turned from 
the trellis he was repairing, to say, — 

" Ay, ay, thet wer' a braw lass, wi' a voice to mak' a 
mon greet, — the bonniest i' the warld ! " 

In March, on the splendid occasion of the celebra- 
tion of the fiftieth season of the Philharmonic Society, 
she sang Mozart's " Parto ma tu ben mio," and during 
April appeared in Dublin as Mary Wolf in Balfe's 



102 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

opera, "The Puritan's Daughter/' and in May de- 
buted in Italian opera at her Majesty's Theatre as 
Elvira in Bellini's famous " Puritani." 

The great tenor Giuglini was announced as the 
Arturo of this occasion. At the moment when Ma- 
dame Guerrabella was to appear on the stage as 
Elvira, she was seen, just within the wing, to press 
her hands upon her temples with a gesture almost of 
despair. 

She had only at that moment been told that Giu- 
glini was ill, and that Signor Bettini, with whom she 
had never sung or rehearsed, would take his place. 

" That she appeared at all under such circum- 
stances," said a London journal, a was most credit- 
able. As the opera proceeded, she had again and 
again to prompt Bettini, who honorably did his best 
in the trying situation into which he had been thrust 
at a moment's notice. The manner in which she 
passed through this ordeal elicited hearty approbation 
from all quarters, and proved that her qualifications 
for the lyric drama are too great for opposition, if 
intended, or misfortune, if unavoidable, to exclude 
her from her place." 

It was generally rumored, and credited, that the 
sudden indisposition of Giuglini was due to an ungen- 
erous attempt on the part of persons envious of 
Madame Guerrabella's unexampled successes. The 
attempt, if such it was, served chiefly to render con- 
spicuous the invincible energy and courage of the 
young singer. Giuglini soon afterward sang with her 
in " Don Pasquale," in which, as also in " Les Hugue- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 103 

nots " and " Robert le Diable," she was received with 
enthusiasm. 

At last, wearing her double crown of English and 
Continental laurels, she went to be heard in her native 
land. She opened the autumn season in the Academy 
of Music in New York, — her native city, — singing 
with Brignoli in " La Traviata," " Figlia del Reggi- 
mento," "II Trovatore," "Ballo in Maschera," and 
" Favorita." Then to Philadelphia, and again in the 
spring at the Academy in New York, singing with 
marvellous success in "lone " and "Semiramide." 

From New York Madame Guerrabella went to Cuba, 
to inaugurate the grand opera house at Matanzas, and 
afterwards appear for the season at the Tacon in Ha- 
vana. Her repertoire during this season included Nor- 
ma, Martha, Traviata, Leonora, Amelia, Elvira, etc. 
She repeated her European triumphs, and was honored 
with the diploma of the Philharmonic Society of Cuba. 

But the unsparing service to which she subjected 
her vocal powers, singing always four, often five, even- 
ings in a week for three months, through the exacting 
warmth of Cuban weather, proved too much. 

Suddenly, in the midst of her prosperous engage- 
ments, her voice gave way, failing abruptly and totally. 

No trouble, admitting of an active course, could 
have been half so terrible as this passive submission 
to silence, for this buoyant young singer. 

In alluding to this heavy period, she speaks with 
strong feeling of the kindness of her personal friends ; 
of Mrs. Cordelia Sanford, — to whose nephew George 
Riddle is chiefly due the nobly adequate representa- 



io4 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



tion of Greek tragedy, lately witnessed at Cambridge, 
Mass. ; and whose niece, Kate Field, has lent lustre to 
journalism and the platform, — of this lady, for whom 
Corda Lodge was named, Miss Ward says, — 

" She is my dear friend of long years standing, abiding by me 
in all my fortunes, changelessly true. And Mr. Sanford is just 
the same : when he was here in England, all who were interested 
in the turf, from the Prince of Wales down, were delighted with 
him. Aunt Corda was both a pupil and friend of Miss Char- 
lotte Cushman, who taught her singing ; and she, in her turn, for 
friendship's sake, taught Adelaide Phillips when she was a little 
girl. Her continual and incessant kindness to me, her sweet 
patience under illness, her generous, unvarying, faithful belief 
in me, have been an immense inspiration and moral support. 
Whenever I have needed help of any kind, they have helped 
me. They are always doing good in the quietest but most real 
and untiring way; helpers of artists, of any one who needed 
help." 

She speaks also with great warmth of Mrs. Reed 
of New York City ; of Miss Field ; Miss Adelaide Phil- 
lips, whose friendship commenced in Cuba when they 
sung ftiere, and has always been of the most de- 
voted kind; of Mrs. Mygatt; and of many others, 
whose faithful sympathy has been her chief encour- 
agement. 

Her fine bust of Milton H. Sanford (now in bronze), 
intended for Mrs. Sanford as a souvenir of grateful 
affection, was finished by Miss Ward in July of the 
present year, 1881 ; and Miss Ward, wrapped in a 
huge blue apron, seated before it giving the finishing 
touches, was a charming illustration of artistic ani- 
mation. 



A MISS GENEVIEVE WARD, 

Tragedienne, 

qui m'avait offert de lire quelques vers de 
ma composition. 

Mes vers paraitront beaux sortant de votre bouche ; 

Comme accompagnement vous leur pretez vos yeux, 
Le son de votre voix dont le charme nous touche, 

Et cet accent du cceur qui rend tout merveilleux ! 

Grace a votre talent tout est delicieux ; 

Que le regard soit vif, tendre, dur ou farouche ; 

S'il se voile un instant, c'est l'astre qui se couche, 
Et resplendit encor dans l'ocean des cieux ! 

Tout parait noble et beau quand vous versez la flamme 
Que Dieu comme un foyer mit au fond de votre ame, 

Afin de la transmettre a tout le genre humain ! 
Heureux cent fois l'auteur de votre choix, madame, 
Vous etes grande artiste et seduisante f emme, 

Et c'est vous qui de Part nous tracez le chemin ! 

Charles Boissiere. 
20 novembre, 1876. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



107 



WITH the loss of her voice, came other cares. 
Her father had sustained severe reverses 
owing to the war, by which they were reduced almost 
to poverty. He was out of health, and mentally de- 
pressed. 

Knowing that she could never again take a first 
place in song, it was not in her nature to accept a 
second. Adelaide Phillips, divining what the high- 
spirited girl was suffering, advised her to go on the 
stage, reminding her of the verdict universally passed 
on her dramatic powers in opera. Acting on this truly 
friendly and wise advice, Madame Guerrabella went to 
see Lester Wallack, who gave her a difficult scene in 
"Wonder," saying that when she had learned it he 
would hear her recite it. 

She tried to learn it, but she was doubting and 
despondent. 

" I had never believed," said Miss Ward to me, 
" that I could commit long parts to memory. I had 
never known any thing by heart, except the Lord's 
Prayer and Pope's Universal Prayer, — to me the most 
beautiful ever written, though many people seemed to 
think it wicked. These I did know, because we used 



108 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

to repeat them en fa?nille, when we were children, at 
the breakfast-table. Well, I gave it up, and did not 
return to Mr. Wallack ; and in this way, by not hearing 
me at once in any thing to which I felt equal, and so 
giving me a little encouragement, he unconsciously 
kept me for the time from the stage." 

At this time Miss Ward was in the country, endeav- 
oring to recruit her health, and recover her voice ; 
but finding it did not return sufficiently, and discover- 
ing a capacity for imparting readily what she knew, 
she accepted a position to give singing-lessons at Miss 
Haines's well-known Twentieth-street School in New 
York City. The senior teacher, Mrs. Seguin, was ex- 
ceedingly kind to Madame Guerrabella, as was also 
Miss Haines and her partner Mile, de Janon, who now 
carries on the school since the death of Miss Haines. 

She succeeded well in these labors ; but it was, after 
all, a forced and not a natural occupation, and wore 
terribly on her nerves. 

Miss Phillips again came to the rescue, and insisted 
on her quitting this drudgery, and trying the stage. 
Mrs. Sanford, the Doremuses, Kate Field, and others 
coincided warmly in this counsel ; and at last, plucking 
up heart, Madame Guerrabella went to see Miss Fanny 
Morant, and engaged her services as dramatic teacher ; 
at the same time continuing her own singing-lessons 
during the day, and keeping house for her father 
(Mrs. Ward was then in Paris), and sitting up nights 
to learn what was assigned to her. 

" I began with Fazio," says Miss Ward ; " and I did 
actually commit fifty lines at a sitting. When I an- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



IO9 



nounced this feat to Adelaide, she thought it marvel- 
lous, and predicted that I would soon learn thoroughly 
two hundred lines a day. A good actor must be letter 
perfect, but cramming is injurious to the artist. My 
method of study has always been to acquire the whole, 
so that from the whole the part may appear. Then I 
play a part by myself till I conquer it. If a part con- 
quers me, — and I've often been overcome by the feel- 
ing I was portraying, — I continue to play it until I 
have conquered it. I have never deviated from this. 

" For Shakespeare, I have always read every thing 
that great German and other critics have said, and 
thereafter formed my own views, and acted solely 
thereon ; for, chiefly in consequence of my interest in 
and attendance on opera, I have never seen any of 
the great dramatic roles played until after I had cre- 
ated and played them for myself; although I have 
been repeatedly spoken of as Ristori's pupil, and she 
herself caHls me 'La mia Doppia' (my double)." 

After six months of study, together with teaching at 
Miss Haines's, and housekeeping for her father, — ris- 
ing at six a.m., and not retiring till midnight, — she was 
prepared with the following fourteen parts : — 



Lady Macbeth. Peg Woffington. 

Beatrice. (" Much Ado.") Juliana (in " Honeymoon "). 
Hermione. (" Winter's Tale.") Madame Fontange. (" Plot and 
Portia. Passion.") 

Lucrezia Borgia. Queen Catherine. 

Adrienne Lecouvreur. Sheep in Wolf's Clothing. 

Medea. Bianca (in " Fazio "). 
Actress of Padua. 



110 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Miss Morant arranged a private rehearsal at Bry- 
ant's Opera House, kindly lent by Mr. Bryant for the 
purpose, and invited about forty persons, friends and 
critical judges, to listen to Miss Ward in scenes from 
"Macbeth," and Julia in "The Hunchback." Her 
little audience expressed warm admiration and flatter- 
ing prophecies, but nothing came of it : she received 
absolutely no encouragement to attempt the stage in 
America. 

With spirits hardly recovered from the terrible blow 
of the loss of her glorious voice, further saddened by 
the failing health of her beloved father, by the wear- 
ing labor of an uncongenial occupation, and the fatigue 
of severe dramatic studies pursued in hours due to 
sleep, — to be confronted with " nil" as the result, was 
a test for the bravest fibre. 

She met the crisis as conquering spirits do. Deter- 
mined, that, if there was no room for her on the stage 
of her native land, she would seek recognition else- 
where, she resumed her maiden name, — having just 
learned of the death of Count de Guerbel, — and went 
to England, where her first step was to give private 
rehearsals to one auditor, a critic of the first quality, 
— her mother. 

Satisfied that her daughter was right, Mrs. Ward set 
about finding or making the proper opening for her 
dramatic career. She went to the managers of the 
best London theatres, and to dramatic agents, and 
stated her daughter's qualifications. 

Each had all the stars he wanted ; tragedy was out 
of fashion : one replied, " What we want nowadays 
are young girls with fine physical development." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. Ill 

Mrs. Ward next went, accompanied by her daugh- 
ter, to Mr. Bateman of the Lyceum ; and he, after 
hearing the case, wished Miss Ward to begin at the 
lowest rung of the ladder, and play comedy. Miss 
Ward laughed. 

. " That laugh is worth a thousand pounds," said Mr. 
Bateman, "but as a comedienne ! " 

"I'm a tragedienne," said Miss Ward, " and not a 
novice. I have sung in opera, and have always been 
attrice cantante, and I mean within three years to be 
an acknowledged great tragedienne." 

Mr. Bateman laughed this time. 

But Miss Ward laughed best and last, when, in less 
than three years after that time, "The Manchester 
Guardian" pronounced her "the best Lady Macbeth 
since Mrs. Siddons " ! 

One day when Mrs. Ward, who had, all to no pur- 
pose, tried every manager of any standing in London, 
was considering, nothing daunted, wjiat to do next, a 
visitor was announced, — the Hon. Lewis Wingfield, 
brother of the Earl of Powerscourt, a cultivated Eng- 
lish gentleman, a very clever playwright, and the gen- 
tleman mentioned by Mrs. Ward as having been of 
first-rate helpfulness upon the American ambulance 
during the siege of Paris. 

" Do you remember, when we were in Paris, how I 
used to talk to you about the beautiful daughter I had 
in America? " said Mrs. Ward. 

" Perfectly well," replied Mr. Wingfield ; "and I hear 
from Palgrave Simpson that she's not only a beauty, 
but a fine actress." 



112 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

" So she is ; but what's the use, when she can't get 
a hearing?" and Mrs. Ward related the story of her 
rebuffs ; and Miss Ward, entering from the garden, was 
presented to Mr. Wingfield, who assured them, that, 
notwithstanding the ill success thus far attending their 
efforts, he felt sure she could obtain a fair and proper 
hearing, and he would see what he could do. 

He went with them to the Haymarket, where he 
had himself formerly played, Miss Kate Field accom- 
panying them. Mr. Chippendale, the stage manager, 
was exceedingly genial until Mr. Wingfield led up to 
the real object of the visit, and proposed that Mr. 
Chippendale should hear Miss Ward rehearse. 

Mr. Chippendale instantly lost his genial graceful- 
ness, moved uneasily about on his chair ; had no doubt 
of the lady's qualification, but he had so very little 
time, and could not see of what use it could be — 

"But," persisted Mr. Wingfield, very much aston- 
ished, " she wants a hearing : she can't possibly make 
an engagement without being accorded the opportunity 
to manifest her claims." 

" Certainly, certainly," the manager agreed ; " but 
there is no vacancy at the Haymarket now ; and while 
I do not, I assure you, entertain the least doubt of 
Miss Ward's qualifications, as there could be no irame- 
ate purpose served," etc. 

" Do not be discouraged," said Mr. Wingfield, turn- 
ing to Miss Ward. " It shall not be said, if I can pre- 
vent it, that you could not get a hearing in England, 
— a courtesy due to any aspirant anywhere." 

He was as good as his word. "Determined that 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 11^ 

the prominent London critics should hear the talented 
American," said Miss Kate Field, who was there, and 
knew all about it, "Mr. Wingfield invited them to 
meet her at the charming studio adjoining his house 
in Maida Vale. The critics assembled, and partook 
of a delicious breakfast : and then Miss Ward went 
through a trying ordeal ; she recited from Lady Mac- 
beth. Her sleep-walking scene was the best I had 
ever witnessed, Ristori's excepted ; and Ristori has 
since seen and applauded it." 

The critics were taken by surprise ; and within a 
few days Mr. Wingfield was able to give Miss Ward a 
batch of letters which, when viewed as the deliberate 
expression of the effect produced by her acting, — 
without stage support, and previous to a dramatic 
debut, — upon stage-worn critics not her personal 
friends, are certainly remarkable, and must have given 
more than pleasure to Miss Ward. 

The critic of " The Hour " wrote : — 

"Dear Wingfield, — Miss Ward has unquestionably a 
large share of dramatic power. I do not altogether like her 
rendering of Lady Macbeth, but that may be prejudice. She 
possesses both force and pathos, has a good stage face and 
figure, and makes her points carefully and effectively. In a 
part where she could take her own line, without running against 
foregone conclusions of her audience, she might be expected 
to make a decided success." 

The dramatic critic of "The Echo," after thanking 
Mr. Wingfield for the opportunity of witnessing Miss 
Ward's acting, wrote : — 

"It struck me as a decidedly interesting performance, — 



114 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

interesting for the cultivation of its style, and for a most unu- 
sual command of gesture. She seems specially to have studied 
balance and harmony of movement. To pass an opinion upon 
her dramatic prospects, upon one performance under circum- 
stances necessarily so trying, would be difficult ; but I think she 
would quickly take her place above most of the actresses now 
on the stage." 

" Of the genuineness of Miss Ward's qualifications for mel- 
odrama [wrote the critic of " The Morning Post "], there can 
not, in my opinion, be any doubt. With ample store of passion 
for that particular province of art, she unites grace of fancy 
and poetic fervor of sentiment. Her voice is bright and sym- 
pathetic ; and her action — wholly free from the vulgar vice of 
redundancy — is, to my thinking, exceedingly picturesque and 
impressive. She is perfect mistress of her text; and her gen- 
eral manner strikes me as being very ladylike and unaffected, 
invariably bespeaking that valuable quality known as stage- 
repose, which, intimating in the actress complete acquaintance 
with the range of her powers, ' begets a smoothness ' in her per- 
formance, and enables her to achieve the highest amount of 
effect at the smallest possible cost of effort. These and other 
merits, combined with her manifest personal advantages, fairly 
entitle her to success. Such, at least, is my judgment, after 
carefully observing her acting. Perhaps I should add, that, not 
having the pleasure of knowing Miss Ward, my opinion, be its 
value what it may, is at all events unswayed by considerations 
of friendship." 

To these, Mr. Wingfield added a word of his own 
as dramatic critic of "The Globe : " — 

" I think, dear Miss Ward, that your reading of Lady Mac- 
beth showed marked intelligence of a very high order, combined 
with unusual command of gesture and picturesque movement ; 
I think that you possess a fine presence and sonorous voice, 
very well adapted to the higher walks of serious drama, and 
that when opportunity offers you will take your stand among 
the small group of our best English actresses." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 115 

As a result of this timely and most perfectly per- 
formed kindness on Mr. Wingfield's part, Miss Ward 
was able, after a delay of some months, to arrange 
with Mr. E. English, of English's Dramatic Agency, 
to make her debut as Lady Macbeth in the grand 
Shakspearian revival at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, 
Oct. 1, 1873. 

George Augustus Sala, one of the first and firmest 
of her London friends; Mr. Wingfield, one of her 
wisest friends ; Tom Taylor, the famous playwright ; 
and Wilkie Collins, — had told Mrs. Ward that two 
favorable lines on Miss Ward's performance, in "The 
Manchester Guardian," would make her. 

Mrs. Ward was supposed to be in Paris, on the 
night of Miss Ward's debut; but she crossed the Chan- 
nel without notifying anybody, and, reaching Man- 
chester just in time, slipped quietly into the theatre, 
took a seat in the back part of the pit, and watched 
the play through with probably the most critical pair 
of eyes there. 1 

When it was over, she went with others to the tra- 
gedienne's dressing-room. The latter's maid thought 
it was Mrs. Ward's ghost, and was exceedingly scared ; 
but Miss Ward said, without any expression of sur- 
prise, " Well, mother, was it good? " 

" Some of it, very," was the reply. Mrs. Ward then 

1 An envious attempt was made to disconcert her, by leaving out the table 
on which the candle is to be set in the sleep-walking scene. She saw this just 
at the moment of going on, and exclaimed, in despair, "Oh! what shall I 
do? " — " You can drop it," was the taunting reply; but, seeing a three-legged 
stool in the wing, she quickly placed it where the table should have been, and 
was just out of sight in time as the curtain rose. 



Il6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

pointed out to her certain blemishes, Miss Ward's 
after-avoidance of which was observed and praised by 
the critics. 

Of course everybody was interested to see "The 
Manchester Guardian " next day ; where, instead of 
the "two favorable lines" on which her case could 
stand, was found a column of noble, critical recogni- 
tion : — 

" Miss Ward is to be congratulated on a self-control and a 
thoroughness in the work of rehearsal which form a phenom- 
enon in themselves. Perfect ease, and a most scrupulously 
exact knowledge of her part, must be conceded to the debutante. 
. . . She has a voice of great power ; and it may be presumed 
that she is indebted, for some of her skill in managing it, to her 
training as a singer. She has, besides, a good accent and a 
fluent utterance ; her features are expressive ; and she gesticu- 
lates with ease and grace. ... In her murderous exhortations 
to Macbeth, she was savage and soothing by turns ; and thus, 
as it were, made the one manner serve to show the other in 
stronger relief. The burst almost of invective, — 

' What beast was it then 
That made you break this enterprise to me ! ' 

was all the more terrible because of the womanly softness of 
the utterances immediately preceding it. Her hissing whis- 
pers, again, in the scene following the murder, made a similarly 
effective contrast with the full-toned horror of Macbeth's, — 

' I have done the deed ! ' 

"This scene was, indeed, admirably rendered throughout. 
Artistic perception of light and shade marked the whole of the 
performance, which, from first to last, was as well received by 
a large and discriminating audience as even the actress herself 
could have wished." 

The "Examiner," "Courier," and other journals, 



GENEVIEVE WARD. \\J 

spoke to the same effect ; and private congratulations 
flowed in. One hearty little note said, — 

" Just a few lines, dear friend, in a great hurry. I saw ' The 
Guardian,' and am delighted. Wrote of your success to 
America. Hurrah I Yours sincerely, 

Carl Rosa." 

After playing Lady Macbeth for several weeks, Miss 
Ward next essayed Queen Constance, in "King John," 
with like results. Charles Sever, whose articles over 
the signature of " An Old Play-goer " were esteemed 
among the ablest dramatic criticisms of the day, wrote 
in "The Manchester Examiner and Times : " — 

" It is obvious that Miss Ward is endowed with great men- 
tal powers, to which high culture has imparted a refinement 
now somewhat rare on the stage. 

" Her perceptive powers enable her to seize and appreciate 
the most subtle phases of passion and sentiment ; and her pol- 
ished — I may venture to say, almost faultless — elocution, and 
forcible dramatic expression, to deliver tne text so as fully to 
realize her conception. Her by-play, too, is equally intelligent, 
expressive, and illustrative of the stage business in which she 
is taking no actual part, and which always shows the true artist 
as much as the more distinct efforts. Her dying scene as 
Queen Constance, in ' King John,' is one of the finest pieces of 
tragic pathos now on the stage, or within my recollection." 

But the harvest she reaped was solely of laurels ; 
Mr. English having stipulated in advance that the 
entire proceeds of her labors must be paid to him in 
return for securing her the opportunity of a first 
appearance. For the sake of this opportunity, Miss 
Ward accepted these preposterous terms, before begin- 
ning her engagement, which, as a dramatic debut in 



n 3 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Shakspearian roles, was an almost unprecedented tri- 
umph. Mr. English had the hardihood to exact his 
Shylock's bargain to the full, and, after its termina- 
tion, was quite ready with further offers of service. 

She debuted m Dublin, Nov. 17, 1873, in the Eng- 
lish version of Victor Hugo's " Lucrezia Borgia ; " and 
the critics praised her warmly. "The Irish Times" 
said, — 

" An imposing presence, a distinguished bearing, a musical 
and sympathetic voice, excellent elocutionary powers; fine 
features, mobile and expressive, capable of at once depicting 
intense passion or deep pathos, — with such advantages as 
these, it can easily be understood that Miss Ward's representa- 
tion of the character of Lucrezia Borgia was very impressive, 
and highly successful : she worked out the dramatist's concep- 
tion with consummate ability." 

And " The Dublin Daily Express " thought that she 
" manifested, all through, a depth and intensity of feel- 
ing, an earnestness of expression and action, fully 
equal to Mile. Beatrice or Miss Bateman, and little 
inferior to Ristori." 

Among the kind things said of her labors at this 
time, a most peculiar compliment was paid her acting 
as Lucrezia, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. A man in the 
audience, who was very much intoxicated, began by 
applauding her with offensive frequency and abrupt- 
ness, but gradually became silent till, suddenly clinch- 
ing his hands in his hair, he cried out in in a very 
different and startling tone, — 

" By God ! that woman makes me sober ! " 

Of her playing as Adrienne Lecouvreur, " The Irish 
Times" said, — 



GENEVIEVE WARD II9 

" Of the acting of Miss Genevieve Ward, the gifted Ameri- 
can tragedienne who has been with us the past week, we could 
hardly speak too highly. In the many scenes which call for the 
exercise of the power of representing the extremes of passion, 
she has proved herself fully able to impersonate the agony of 
grief, the expression of offended and rejected love, and the 
rapid transitions of that mysterious and unanalyzable feeling, 
which mixes itself in nearly every transaction of human life." 

The "Journal" and "Mail " spoke at length to the 
same effect; and "The Irish Echo" compared her 
Medea favorably with that of Ristori's recent per- 
formance at the same theatre in the same role. " The 
Times " said, " Miss Ward's Medea rose to the high- 
est level of histrionic art;" and "The Mail "thought 
" her acting in the last scene faultless and singularly 
striking." 

She appeared as Thisbe in Victor Hugo's " Actress 
of Padua," successfully ; and as Medea, in Hull, she 
won great triumphs. 

All this victory in the provinces, however, meant 
nothing previous to a London verdict ; and her friend 
George Augustus Sala wrote the following letter to 
Mr. Chatterton, manager of the Adelphi : — 

68 Thistle Grove, Brompton, 
March 10, 1874. 

My dear Chatterton, — I venture to write to you as 
strongly as ever I am able, in the hope that I may interest you 
(managerially, now you have taken the Adelphi really in hand) 
on behalf of my friend Miss Genevieve Ward. This lady has 
been, I believe, already made known to you ; but she is anxious 
that I should personally place her views before you, since I 
have known her from her girlhood, and should be thoroughly 
acquainted with her dramatic capacity. She was at the outset 



120 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

of her career a prima donna, and as sirch has appeared with 
applause in all the great opera-houses of England, the Con- 
tinent, and America, and in our own Exeter Hall oratorios. 

Subsequently she studied sedulously for the stage, and re- 
cently has made very successful appearances in Dublin, Man- 
chester, Hull, etc., in tragic parts such as Lucrezia Borgia, 
Adrienne Lecouvreur, Lady Macbeth, etc. She is an intimate 
friend of Ristori, and, for the matter of that, could play as well 
in Italian, French, or Spanish, as in English; but this is 
beside the point. 

Tragedy is now her forte ; and for this she has an admirable 
countenance, figure, and bearing. 

Still I think there is likewise a genuine vein of comedy in 
her, and that under Adelphi influences there is all the making 
of a first-rate melodramatic actress in her, of the calibre of 
Miss Kelley and Mrs. Yates, whom I can just remember, but 
whom you perhaps cannot recollect at all. Besides this, she 
is a thoroughly intelligent, accomplished woman, who has seen 
the world, and mingled in it, in every phase, — an artist, a 
linguist, a musician. She wants a working debut, that she may 
let you and the public know of what stuff she is made. If you 
can do any thing practical to meet her views, you will place me 
under a real obligation to you. 

The immediate result of this letter was the engage- 
ment of Miss Ward to play at the Adelphi, as 
Unarita in "The Prayer in the Storm," a melodrama 
originally called the "The Sea of Ice." This play 
was booked for a fortnight as a stop-gap ; but Miss 
Ward's inimitable Unarita kept it on the stage before 
crowded houses for six months, and the critics had 
not written with such warmth and unanimity for many 
a day. She was pronounced fully equal to Madame 
Celeste, who had in the first instance made the part 
famous. " The May fair " said it had — 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 12 1 

" But one word of praise, and that is for Miss Ward, whose 
skilful acting saves from utter condemnation a drama not 
worth redemption." 

Besides the congratulations of her English friends, 
she received in pleasant letters from America — among 
others a very kind one from her old friends of the 
Haines School, Anne Seguin, and Mile. Janon — 
proofs that many in her native land rejoiced in her 
hardly-earned triumphs. Her valued and valuable 
friend Hon. Lewis Wingfield wrote, — 

" I congratulate you on your notices. Out of seven that I 
have seen, all are favorable, — a very unusual thing in London I 
The result is, that Chatter ton will of course want to make a 
fixture of you." 

Miss Ward's pay for having made such a success of 
a piece intended only for a stop-gap was not in- 
creased. 

In October, 1874, she played successfully at the 
Crystal Palace, as Julia in Sheridan Knowles's " Hunch- 
back." Meantime the press began to comment ear- 
nestly on the fact that such an artist as Miss Ward was 
compelled, in order to secure a foothold on the Lon- 
don stage, to accept parts so in every way inferior to 
her capacity. Of her expected advent at Drury Lane, 
"The Era" said,— 

" We see that Miss Genevieve Ward, who has been playing 
with great success in London in the regular drama, is to appear 
at Drury Lane on the 15th of February, 1875, as Rebecca, in 
the grand spectacular drama of 'Ivanhoe.' The character is 
admirably suited to the lady ; her strongly defined Asiatic fea- 



I2 2 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

tures, graceful action, and splendid diction, all promising to 
render her impersonation the perfect realization of Scott's 
ideal. There is no actress on the English or American stage, 
at present, whose talents and accomplishments warrant so wide 
a range of parts as this actress can undertake. Her tragic 
powers are of the highest order, as was shown by her Lady 
Macbeth and Lucrezia Borgia, in Manchester and Dublin ; and 
in high comedy she has few rivals. No better evidence of 
versatility can be adduced than her resuscitation of the old 
worn-out melodrama, 'The Sea of Ice,' at the Adelphi, and 
which, owing to her remarkable impersonation, had a six- 
months prosperous run during a period of unexampled theat- 
rical dulness. She accepted the part to obtain an appearance 
in London, and rendered it so profitable, that the management 
with difficulty consented to her playing high-comedy parts at 
the afternoon performances at the Crystal Palace." 

Great praise, seasoned with some carping, accompa- 
nied her acting as " Rebecca," concerning which Mr. 
Wingfield wrote : — 

" I called in at the Arundel, late, to hear how the perform- 
ance had gone, and was glad to find a satisfactory verdict from 
all the critics present. They are, by education, a phlegmatic set ; 
but said your performance was very striking indeed, picturesque, 
better than Miss Neilson's ; that where you erred was always 
on the right side, — I mean, in avoiding clap-trap and rant, — 
which, from so cold-blooded a set, is no inconsiderable compli- 
ment-" 

She was warmly received in Newcastle, where she 
played at the Tyne Theatre. At Dundee she made 
her first appearance in May, as the Countess Thecla, 
in Mr. Wingfield's play, "Despite the World." The 
story concerns the court and period of Frederick the 
Great, "and was written," says Miss Kate Field, "at 



GENEVIEVE WARD 123 

Ristori's suggestion. When Miss Ward expressed a 
wish for something new, the great Italian recommended 
one of her pieces, ' Cuore ed Arte,' — ' Heart and 
Art.' Finding the Italian play utterly unmanage- 
able in English, Mr. Wingfield, to whom the task of 
adaptation had been assigned, turned to the Italian 
novel on which 'Heart and Art' was founded, and 
evolved an infinitely better comedy-drama." 

Miss Ward's impersonation of Sappho, in Mr. W. 
G. Wills' s play of that name, received the highest 
encomium. She played this in Dublin, and also ap- 
peared as Portia, and as Pauline in "The Lady of 
Lyons," and in "Lucrezia Borgia; " and on the night 
of June 18, 1875, she played Medea, and the two 
last acts of " The Merchant of Venice," in honor of 
the American Rifle Team, at the Gaiety, Dublin. 

" As the Americans entered the theatre, the orches- 
tra played ' Hail Columbia ; ' and Miss Ward, dressed 
in a complete ancient Irish costume of white, robe 
and mantle, trimmed with green and gold, with tiara, 
brooch and armlets complete, and having in her hand 
the wand and ring which Moore has rendered famous," 
recited the poetical address composed by Dr. S. D. 
Elrington for the occasion : — 

" Robed as Hibernia's daughter, lo ! I stand, 
Like you, a guest in dear old Ireland. 
Ye riflemen, by favor of our guns, 
Columbia's daughter hails Columbia's sons. 
Had I ten thousand hands, with all I'd meet ye, 
Had I ten thousand tongues, with welcome greet ye ; 
Though time and space may seem to interpose, 
And 'twixt our shores a cruel ocean flows, 



124 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

With magic wand I touch the electric springs ; 

An instant a responsive answer brings, 

Which proves, however distant be each land, 

Both nations are united heart and hand. 

Our sires, by famine and by wrongs opprest, 

Found ever shelter in the glorious West ; 

And in their children's hearts left still enshrined 

The love of home, that distance could not blind. 

Then, by their honored ashes, by their graves, 

We greet you brothers from across the waves, — 

Brothers in blood, as well as hearts and speech, 

Brought here together by our favorite leech. 

Welcome, then welcome ; and a happy time, 

Marred by no weeping from our tearful clime, 

We wish propitious skies ; yet still we deem 

The reigning favorite, the rifle team. 

Come to our feast; with love our hearts are full; 

The fatted calf we'll kill, — it is a bull. 

Soon, when arrayed in contest, you may try 

The metal of that bull, — but mind his eye. 

Ye strive in friendship ; if you win, you'll meet 

No heartier cheering than from those you beat. 

And, if your brothers win, you won't despair 1 

You still have left a younger brother's share. 

Ireland, in either case, is doubly blest : 

She wins the most, in losing to her guest. 

Oh, may the spirits of the blessed dead — 

O'Connell, on whose tomb warm tears are shed, 

And Washington, with all that noble throng, 

Whose names are ever an unceasing song, 

Who strove for liberty, — now by you stand, 

And silent bless each patriotic band I 

And so we welcome you, with hands, hearts, eyes, — 

Cead millefailtke, echoes to the skies." 

" None but genius of the highest class can touch or attempt 
1 Medea ' without failing [said " The Dublin Mail"]. The play 
is a touchstone j and the hush of silence, the shudder of sym- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 125 

pathetic fear, and the enthusiastic bursts of applause, that 
marked the progress of the piece, leave no doubt of the fact 
that not here alone, but in America, Miss Ward's reputation 
as the first tragedienne, the successor of Miss Cushman, is 
made. . . . ' Yankee Doodle ' was played by the orchestra as a 
closing air, and the team left the theatre amidst a vast crowd 
and tremendous cheering. To-night the team will again visit 
the theatre on the occasion of Miss Ward's benefit, when 
'Medea' will be again performed, and 'The Honeymoon,' in 
which Mr. John H. Bird will take a part. We expect Mr. Bird, 
an American barrister, will show the Irish bar what amateur 
acting may be." 

Mr. Bird fulfilled the expectation brilliantly. 

"The distinguished American advocate, Mr. Bird, who is 
regarded as the best amateur actor in his own country [said 
" Ths Dublin Mail "] gave us the best Duke Aranza we have 
seen. He has the merit of being a gentleman in all his minor 
actions, and this gives to his playing a finish and perfection 
rarely seen on the professional stage." 

During June she was also playing in Manchester, 
with splendid success, in " Despite the World." Of 
the play itself, a critic wrote : — 

" From a careful perusal we do not hesitate to pronounce it 
a production of rare merit, well conceived, admirably written, 
and with a noble purpose. Such plays as this lift the stage 
above the category of mere amusement, and rank it with insti- 
tutions of popular education." 

Ristori wrote to her from America : — l~ translation] 

" We've received the papers, and all been in your happiness 
with you. We see your great future, dear. You so deserve a 
happy fate, that in truth you will not have stolen it when it 
comes. Just think of your delight in having your mother with 
you ! Oh ! if I could only be with you two months, I'm sure I 



126 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

should learn the whole part of Macbeth. Others have offered 
to teach it me, but I have not the confidence that they would 
be like your mother. She is so patient, intelligent, correct, 
artistic, and I will say mechanical, because no other word will 
express my idea. To teach a tongue as difficult as that of the 
ancient English poetry, you must know the system of the move- 
ments of the throat and palate ; for which I do not use ill the 
word 'mechanical.' " 

While playing in the provinces in the summer and 
autumn of 1875, Miss Ward was in negotiation with 
Max Strakosch for a tour of the United States. She 
accepted his terms ; but he failed to send the contract 
in season, and she continued to play in the provinces. 
Of her Bianca in " Fazio/' which was strongly praised, 
Mr. Wingfield wrote : — 

" Just a word, dear Miss Ward, to say that Clayton and I 
were delighted with your Bianca. . . . Nothing could be more 
charming than the series of attitudes ; and in the pathetic por- 
tions I am quite certain there is no one on the stage who could 
at all touch them." 

In December she filled the exacting role of Antig- 
one, at the Crystal Palace ; and the " Figaro " said, — 

" It was upon Miss Ward that the weight of the burden 
mostly lay. How deeply and conscientiously she must have 
studied the part, was most manifest. Not once did the lady 
falter. Her delivery was correct and refined ; and the depth of 
pathos, and the poignancy of grief, were contrasted at the 
proper moments with the power of religious determination, 
and the most heart-rending representation of utter despair." 

The correspondent of " The New York Tribune " 
said, — 

" The production of Antigone has given that handsome and 



GENEVIEVE WARD. \2J 

clever American, Miss Genevieve Ward, an opportunity to 
show power in the ungracious character of a sketch from the 
antique. She plays Antigone with the serious grace, reserve, 
and occasional force called for by the text; and her stately 
figure, large- fine features, and deep contralto voice, suit well 
the sad and queenly heroine. By dint of quiet yet passionate 
simplicity she has succeeded in making Antigone's lament, 
before her living entombment, a really affecting piece of acting, 
and that is not an easy thing to do." 

Early in 1876 Col. J. W. Forney, United States 
Centennial Commissioner in Europe, received the fol- 
lowing letter : — 

21 Princes St., Hanover Square. 
Jan. 18, 1876. 

My dear Sir, — Before your departure for America, I have 
great pleasure in offering my professional services in aid of the 
Centennial Fund. Should this proposition be agreeable to you, 
I will organize a performance of " Macbeth " at Drury Lane on 
Friday, Feb. 4, Mr. Chatterton having generously offered hfs 
theatre for the occasion. 

Yours sincerely, 

Genevieve Ward. 

To which Col. Forney replied, — 

Fenton's Hotel, Jan. 20, 1876. 
My dear Miss Ward, — Your letter of the 18th was an 
agreeable surprise, and is particularly welcome, not only as 
showing your praiseworthy patriotism, but your readiness to 
follow the example of your distinguished countryman, Mr. John 
S. Clarke, who, more than a year ago, contributed a large sum 
to the Centennial Fund. Your liberal proposal is particularly 
appropriate, as being the first Centennial dramatic representa- 
tion in the great city of London. Of course I gratefully accept 
your proposition ; and I am much gratified to add, that, since 
the receipt of your letter, I have consulted Robert S. Schenck, 



128 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

American minister, and Gen. Adam Badeau, American consul ; 
both of whom have cordially undertaken to recommend your 
praiseworthy enterprise to the public." 

By the kind co-operation of Messrs. J. S. Clarke, 
J. B. Buckstone, J. Hare, H. Neville, F. C. Burnand, 
C. Rice, W. R. Field, Parravicini, W. Corbyn, and 
F. B. Chatterton, all leading managers of London, an 
admirable cast was secured, and the play was presented 
under the invaluable personal superintendence of Mr. 
Edward Stirling. 

Though it was unintelligently remarked that with 
such support Mks Ward could hardly fail to appear to 
advantage, it is obvious that she could have given no 
prouder challenge to a public slow in receiving the 
new, but magnificent in its recognition when once 
convinced. To shine in such a setting, was to prove 
herself a star of the first magnitude. Her triumph 
was grand, artistically and financially. Some of the 
critics praised grudgingly ; but the more effectively for 
that very reason, since unwilling admiration proves the 
power that compels it. Motives underlying covert 
opposition to success are never far to seek. 

"The Daily Telegraph " said, "Miss Ward's Lady 
Macbeth is unrivalled." "The Dublin Telegraph" 
thought — 

" The whole conception of the character by this gifted actress 
was strictly in accordance with the idea by which it must have 
been originated in Shakspeare's mind. Nothing could be more 
refined or dignified than her whole tenue at the banquet-scene, 
— no hurry, no fussiness, no weak fear of consequences either. 
But the assumed calm, which the audience was allowed to see, 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 29 

was only assumed, as she tried to divert the attention of the 
guests, called down thunders of applause, and really established 
Miss Ward as the first emotional tragedienne of the day. After 
the performance, Miss Ward was recalled ; and the American 
fashion of handing baskets of flowers from the boxes, and 
throwing bouquets adorned with long streamers of gay-colored 
ribbons, served to convey the admiration inspired by a perform- 
ance which certainly ranks Miss Ward amongst the first Shake- 
spearian actresses of the day." 

"The Era," "Weekly Messenger," "Figaro," and 
others were warmly appreciative; and "The Fost " 
said that nothing had equalled her playing since the 
days of the great Siddons. 

"The Court Journal" mentioned that Baring & 
Brothers paid a hundred pounds for a box ; Morgan & 
Co., fifty pounds ; Morton, Rose, & Co., fifty pounds ; 
Seligman, twenty pounds; and J. P. Bigelow, ten 
pounds. 

Soon after the Centennial Fund benefit, Miss Ward 
received the following letter : — 

Fenton's Hotel, Feb. 12, 1876. 

My dear Miss Ward, — The proceeds of your benefit for 
the Centennial Fund, enclosed in your favor of this date, were 
immediately forwarded to the chairman of the Centennial Fi- 
nance Committee at Philadelphia. 

I will not stop to dwell on your splendid performance of 
Lady Macbeth, nor of the able assistance of your profes- 
sional associates ; but only add, that it is to your own energy 
and perseverance in organizing your noble benefit, with all the 
heavy details and obstacles, and to your appeals to your own 
countrymen to join you in a good cause, that this noble and 
patriotic triumph is due. With my best wishes for your success 
in all future undertakings, I remain very truly yours, 

J. W. Forney. 



130 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

In May, after playing in her great roles in Liverpool, 
she received from the famous Dr. Hitchman a letter 
of congratulation, in which he said, — 

"I think I shall give a public lecture on the tragedies of 
Euripides, with special reference to the Medea of your un- 
rivalled histrionic powers. In my opinion, that is the' char- 
acter for your high dramatic walk. ... I shall never forget 
your surpassing intellectual accomplishments last evening, and 
most emphatically your dignity of deportment as daughter of 
Estes, King of Colchis. You deserve to be drawn through the 
air upon a chariot of heavenly fire, not by Medea's winged 
dragons, but God's angels 1 " 

Of Miss Ward's excellent impersonation as Mrs. 
Haller, and also as Meg Merrilies, the critics spoke 
in one accord of praise : — 

" In the hands of Miss Cushman, the famous American 
tragedienne, recently deceased, the part of the old gypsy woman 
was brought into special prominence, the rdle being one of that 
great artiste's best efforts ; indeed, many who have a distinct 
remembrance of her acting, place it first. Resembling her dis- 
tinguished countrywoman in many respects, — both having over- 
strained their grand lyric powers, and suffered loss of voice in 
consequence, and both having left the operatic for the dramatic 
career, — Miss Genevieve Ward filled the part with great power 
and effect. It may be considered the least part of the excel- 
lence of the performance, but no one could fail in being struck 
with her wonderful ' make-up.' When she first strode upon the 
stage, to the astonishment of Bertram and Dandie, her appear- 
ance was strangely weird and impressive. Her face was tanned 
and haggard ; her cheeks, neck, and arms seemed withered and 
shrivelled ; and in the wild-eyed, wrinkled hag none could rec- 
ognize the graceful and elegant Portia, or the handsome and 
imposing Medea. Of Miss Ward's performance, it may briefly 
be said that it was in every respect artistic, thoughtful, and in the 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 131 

highest degree picturesque ; even the difficulties of the Scotch 
accent were sufficiently well met, although we would not have 
been justified in expecting this. The effect of her singing of 
Franco's song was indescribable; nothing could have been 
more true or natural. Her chanting of the prophecy had all 
the wild plaintiveness of an Irish caoine. The last act of the 
play was most judiciously altered. Instead of concluding with 
a solo for Julia Mannering, and chorus, the curtain dropped on 
the picture of Meg's death. Here Miss Ward made the great 
point of her admirable impersonation. Her acting was simply 
superb, intense and forceful in every particular, while her per- 
fect taste and judgment saved the episode from exaggeration or 
any appearance of being overwrought. It was a magnificent 
piece of acting, witnessed in perfect silence by the large audi- 
ence, who applauded at the fall of the curtain with significant 
warmth." 

About this time Miss Ward received a present from 
the ever kind and thoughtful Ristori. It was a lap 
writing-desk, very handsome, with white and blue 
violets painted in a lovely cluster on the enamelled lid. 
In the note accompanying the gift Ristori said, — 

. " What a pleasure if you could only come here to see us, to 
pass days and days with us in this lovely villa ! You should 
lead with us a country life, rising at six, and retiring at half- 
past nine. We have fields, a little orchard, a beautiful little 
house covered over with roses ; and we would enjoy ourselves, 
and we would laugh ! " 

In the fall of 1876 Miss Ward, not satisfied with the 
great success she had achieved, and feeling she was 
not thoroughly mistress of her art, went to Paris, to 
study under Regnier, the great dramatic teacher and 
critic, who was the friend of Talma, the famous stage- 
reformer of France, and of whose reception years ago, 



132 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

at St. Petersburg, the following bright bit of gossip was 
related : — 

"M. Regnier — he is the same Regnier who was the friend of 
de Musset — had a wonderful reception at the theatre, and 
soon became a lion in the capital. Every one sought him and 
fited him. Then he came to deliver his letters of introduction. 
He himself tells the story with a delightful simplicity and wit. 
The St. Petersburg exquisite was so exclusive that he would 
allow no one to touch any thing of his with an ungloved hand. 
Regnier unfortunately paid his visit in complete ignorance. 
There was the usual stiffness, and the usual insincere interest. 
Then tea was brought in, — at that time more of a rarity for an 
afternoon meal than it is now. The equipage was faultless, — 
curious old silver, dainty Dresden china, the furniture of a 
museum rather than the ornaments of a tea-table. M. Regnier 
was helped, and continued his conversation; but he had not 
sufficient sugar, so, selecting one lump out of the basin, he took 
it in his fingers, and dropped it into his cup. The Prince looked 
aghast, and exchanged a significant glance with a servant, who 
opened a window, and emptied the sugar-basin into the street. 
The imperturbable comedian continued his conversation, and 
finished his tea. He showed no resentment, but, when his cup 
was quite empty, quietly rose, opened the window, flung cup, 
saucer, and teaspoon into the street, observing that soon he 
would get accustomed to the manners of the people. 

" On another occasion the emperor recognized the comedian 
in the street, stopped him, and had some minutes' conversation 
with him. They then parted ; and immediately afterward the 
poor actor was arrested, and flung into a dungeon. He was, 
however, soon afterward released; and then learned that it 
was treason to address the emperor in the streets. The next 
day he again met the monarch, who sought to stop him ; but 
Regnier was forewarned. ' Don't speak to me,' he shouted to 
the king : ' your majesty's conversation is compromising.' " 

While Miss Ward was studying with Regnier, Mile. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 33 

Josseliii (Miss Julian), a young dramatic student of 
much promise, came to her in great distress : her 
family were opposed to her going on the stage ; a.n.d 
Bressants, her teacher at the Conservatoire, was ill, her 
lessons were stopped, and she in despair. Miss Ward, 
who had been rehearsing with her in the sleep-walking 
scene from " Macbeth " twenty-one times, Miss Jos- 
selin taking the role of the nurse, consented to teach 
her in tragedy, paying special attention to pose and 
gesture. And, at Miss Josselin's debut at the Conserva- 
toire, everybody was talking of her poses ; nothing had 
been seen like it since Rachel : and at the close the 
young debutante received the first prize in tragedy, 
which had not been conferred on any woman for seven 
years. 1 

After studying all winter, Miss Ward made her first 
appearance on the French stage at the Porte St. 
Martin Theatre, in February, 1877, as Lady Macbeth. 
The chief critics and famous artists of Paris were 
present. " The noble, deep eyes of the author of ' La 
Fille de Roland ' were visible in the orchestra-stalls ; 
and her teacher, M. Regnier, occupied one of the 

1 The Conservatoire in Paris is a national school supported by gov- 
ernment. Its teachers for the drama are selected from the old actors of 
the Comedie Francaise, the only theatre which has lasted two hundred years. 
Its teachers in music are selected from the great singers of the French school. 
An artist receiving the first prize in the Conservatoire has a right to claim 
engagement at the first operas at the Comedie Francaise. The jury is se- 
lected by the government, from among such men as Dumas, — none of the 
teachers can serve, — Perrin, the director of the Comedie Francaise, and other 
great critics and dramatic authors, who pass the verdict and confer the prizes, 
retiring as from any other court to consult and agree. When it was an- 
nounced to Mile. Jo'iseJin, that this prize had been awarded to her, she 
sobbed aloud. 



134 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

boxes." The play was given in French, after the 
translation of M. Jules Lacroix ; but the sleep-walking 
scene was played in English at the request of Regnier, 
"else," said he to Miss Ward, "the critics will vow 
you are a Frenchwoman, and think that the announce- 
ment of your foreign nationality was only a trick to 
whet curiosity." 

The most eminent living French dramatic critic, 
Francisque Sarcey, opened with a discourse on Sheri- 
dan's "School for Scandal ; " then followed the first and 
second acts of " Macbeth," and the sleep-walking scene. 
A correspondent of "The London Era" said,— 

"Miss Ward's French was so perfect that her American 
nativity was discredited until in the sleep-walking scene, given 
in English, she fairly electrified the house. It was splendidly 
rendered, with an intensity of power and statuesque grace that 
called forth the warmest applause, and a double recall, a very 
exceptional compliment here. She was afterward personally 
complimented in the most cordial manner, by several distin- 
guished artists and critics. M. Victorien Sardou, who had left 
his sick-room to be present, and Francisque Sarcey, who volun- 
teered to sign Miss Ward a diploma as a French actress, were 
among those who vied to do her honor. Needless to say that 
Regnier, her tutor, was in ecstasies at the triumph of his pupil, 
so great that she was invited to repeat the sleep-walking scene 
at the next Porte St. Martin matinee." 

The French plaudit of critics and the public was 
one harmonious and full chord of praise, as intelligent 
and just as it was warm. 

The London papers quoted the French journals : — 

" Miss Ward's appearance at the Porte St. Martin the other 
day as Lady Macbeth [said a critic in "The London World" 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 35 

of Feb. 21, 1877] was a genuine success. It was a difficult 
undertaking to play the part of Lady Macbeth in French ; and, 
with that, to give more than satisfaction to an audience ill 
acquainted with the piece. She was obliged afterward to repeat 
the sleep-walking scene in English, and for a curious reason, — 
because her French was so pure, it was necessary to give her 
hearers proof that it was not her native tongue. Both repre- 
sentations were admirable, especially the long scene of im- 
perious temptation with Macbeth, which occurs in the second 
act. 

" I was so fortunate as to witness her first appearance in 
this part in England ; and, much as that pleased me, I am bound 
to say that her improvement under French training has been 
very great indeed. She has simply had the resolution to with- 
draw herself for a while from the English stage, in order to take 
lessons of those masters of her art who are to be found at the 
Conservatoire. I wish that others of our actresses would follow 
her example ; but I am sorry — and Miss Ward must be more 
than human if she is not glad — to think that they will not." 

Said "The Dublin Morning Mail," — 

" A series of morning performances is at present being 
given in the Theatre Porte St. Martin, in Paris, called ' Mati- 
nees Characteristiques.' Their character consists in the fact, 
that each one is devoted to a nationality or period: thus the 
Russian, Spanish, Italian, and English authors respectively 
are represented at a matinee, and also different centuries, — the 
fourteenth, fifteenth, etc. A notable feature in each matinee 
is, that at each performance is delivered a discourse by one of 
the principal Parisian critics. The second matinee was devoted 
to England, and the play was ' Macbeth.' In the latter, Miss 
W ard played Lady Macbeth. The performance was in French ; 
and the gifted American actress, with whom Dublin is familiar, 
was received by the French audience as a countrywoman ; and 
it was only when she spoke the sleep-walking scene in English, 
that her nationality was allowed. The house was full of the 
literati of Paris, including most of the members of the Comedie 



I36 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Fran9aise, — MM. Sardou, Bornier, Dumas, etc., — all of whom 
applauded heartily, and recalled the artiste twice, a very rare 
honor on the French stage ; and a repetition of her Lady Mac- 
beth is asked. It is pleasant to record such a distinguished 
success of a lady whose first efforts we witnessed with genuine 
delight." 

A London letter to "The Dublin Telegraph" com- 
mented as follows : — 

" Sarcey, the great critic, declares that Miss Ward possesses 
every quality necessary to insure her the most ' eclatant succes ' 
which has greeted any actress since the days when Alexandre 
Dumas created them in return for their making him. The 
French stage is sadly deficient in the tragic element just now; 
and Sardou, on seeing Miss Ward's performance of Lady Mac- 
beth, immediately seized upon her as the most fitting represent- 
ative of his new play, — his beau ideal of the warmth and ten- 
derness required. This striking success of a foreigner on the 
Paris boards is regarded as the great artistic event of the day ; 
and the London managers stand amazed at their own want of 
perspicacity, especially remembering the reception Miss Ward 
met with in Dublin, where she was greeted with the same appre- 
ciation of her genius as manifested by the public of Paris, — 
affording another proof of the superiority of Dublin in the 
refinement of criticism, and the higher feeling for art which 
exist in your city, and should force the acknowledgment of its 
being the artistic capital of the kingdom." 

During her sojourn in Paris, Miss Ward received 
many distinguished proposals for theatrical engage- 
ments ; among them, one from M. Jenneval, manager 
of the Troisieme Theatre Franeais, — so called as the 
Odeon is considered the second, — not now in opera- 
tion ; another from Jules Claretie, the same accom- 
plished gentleman and clever dramatist now writing 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



*37 



the brilliant fetdlleton for Le Nord, entitled " La Mai- 
son Vide ; " and another from Albert Alberg, manager 
of the Djurgaards Theatre of Stockholm. 

The celebrated and popular French actor, Pierre 
Berton, wrote to the critic of the " Figaro " and 
"Gaulois:" — 

" Dear Sir, — I have been to see Miss Ward, and I thank 
you for having sent me. Without your advice, I might have 
lost the occasion to hear an eminent artist, whose play, always 
natural and true even in the most dramatic situation, has car- 
ried me away ; for it is true art as I understand it, and as I try 
to practise it. The attitude, facial expression, and gesture of 
Miss Ward, are equal to her fine diction, so pliant, so varied. 
I am sorry I shall be unable at this time to hear her again ; for 
it would have been a real pleasure, and a precious study." 

Some months previous to her French debut, Lord 
Newry, a very clever and accomplished young man, 
translator of the " Danischeffs," and owner of the St. 
James Theatre, had written to Miss Ward : — 

Ashridge, Great Berkhampstead, Nov. 30, 1876. 
My dear Madame, — I am glad for your sake that your 
prospects in Paris are so good that you cannot feel yourself 
justified in relinquishing them under a less sum than forty 
pounds a week. . . . There is not a single lady in London 
drawing that salary ; and not more than four at the outside in 
receipt of even half of it. ... I think you will show the Paris- 
ians that they are not the only artists in the world. 
Faithfully yours, 

Newry. 

Miss Ward received many precious private congrat- 
ulations upon her triumphs at the Porte St. Martin, — 
from Ristori's friend and critic, G. de Filippi; from 



r 38 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the famous Madame Celeste ; from Lionel Tennyson, 
son of the laureate ; from Palgrave Simpson ; and 
Madame Ristori wrote : — 

" Who knows what you may have been thinking of my 
silence? But you — naughty one — have not even thought of 
asking me the reason ! Your triumphs have paled my memory 
in your thoughts — is it not so ? Ah ! I am delighted with your 
magnificent success in Paris, but I am not in the least aston- 
ished ; but allow me to tell you, all the same, that your English 
language is diabolically diabolical 1 I miss you so much ! I 
kiss you with my heart ; and I love you, and am your 

"Adelaide Ristori." 

Miss Ward has received letters from this dear and 
generous friend from almost all parts of the world. 
"Madame Ristori always speaks with the sincerest 
kindness of artists," said Miss Ward to me, "and is 
remarkably faithful in her remembrance of her friends." 

This was observable in her letters. I hardly found 
one in which she did not make tender inquiry for Miss 
Kate Field. 

Miss Ward's French triumphs brought her offers 
from London managers : — 

" I am not astonished at the propositions made to you from 
London [wrote Regnier] : the contrary would have astonished 
me ; and it is equally without surprise that I hear of the French 
movement taking possession of the English actors. Last Tues- 
day at the Conservatoire, an English actress imparted to me 
her desire to act the rdle of Juliet in French. Her accent ren- 
ders the attempt impossible for her ; but I see in this the emu- 
lation which your achievement has excited, and which, in my 
opinion, you alone can make succeed. If you regret our les- 
sons, believe also that the same regret is mine. Such pupils as 
yourself are rare, or, more properly speaking, they do not 
exist." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 39 

In September, 1877, Miss Ward accepted an en- 
gagement to play as Queen Catherine in the grand 
Shakespearian revival at the Theatre Royal, in Man- 
chester. 

" Mr. Charles Calvert, by whom the play has been arranged 
for presentation [said "The Manchester Courier"], and under 
whose care it has been produced, is already known all over 
Europe and America for the grandeur and faithfulness of his 
Shakespearian revivals; and the splendor and solidity of the 
scenic display will live in the memory of those who see it as 
one of the most elaborate and impressive performances of mod- 
ern times." 

The Hon. Lewis Wingfield supplied the authorities 
and designs for the costumes, paraphernalia, and rega- 
lia employed in the production. " His skill, judgment, 
and popularity, therefore," said "The Era," "were 
qualifications of the first order in connection with 
such an enterprise." 

Charles Sever wrote in "The Manchester Guard- 
ian:"— 

" Miss Genevieve Ward is, in my opinion, one of the most 
accomplished artists, both intellectually and dramatically, on 
the English stage. Her performance here of Lady Macbeth 
some time ago — to say nothing of her recent successes in 
Paris, in French rendering of the same — struck me as the 
truest, most forcible, and most finished embodiment of the part 
which I had seen during a period of forty years. 

"Equally striking is her impersonation of the dethroned 
Queen Catherine, whether in the famous council-chamber scene 
in Act I. where she pleads before the king, or the scene with 
Cardinal Wolsey in Act III , or in the vision and dying scene, 
which is the most painfully real embodiment of gradual disso- 
lution conceivable." 



I40 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

The correspondent of " The Chronicle " waxed 
wroth with Mr. Sever, splenetically snubbed him for 
the length of a whole column, and was very unsympa- 
thetic with the slow and literal death of the queen; 
but the press and the public were with Mr. Sever. 

Her old master, Regnier, to whom she sent the 
Manchester papers, wrote : — 

" To you the praise is complete ; and I do not detect, in all 
the critics say of you, the shadow of a reticence. You are 
recompensed for your long, brave labors. I hope you will give 
me the most ample details of your success: the examination 
which you ought to make of the impressions made upon the 
public will be, I assure you, as interesting for me as for you. 
Continuation of success, and the warmest affection in the name 
of my wife, and of yours affectionately, 

" Regnier." 

She attended the Church of England Temperance 
Bazaar, and acted with Mr. Calvert in the trial scene 
from " The Merchant of Venice," giving the proceeds 
to the society. Then followed fast upon one another 
noble successes in Manchester and Liverpool, as Lady 
Macbeth, Beatrice in "Much Ado about Nothing," 
and as Portia, etc. Long and able critical leaders in 
the papers concerning her fine impersonations were 
now the rule ; and Regnier, delighted with her grow- 
ing fame, wrote to her in reference to O'Neill's admira- 
ble review of her Lady Macbeth in " The Manchester 
Examiner: " — 

" The author's appreciation of you is most remarkable : it is 
more difficult to know how to praise than to criticise ; and, for 
the writer to justify the so well-merited praises he gives you, 
must make you happy and proud to be so understood, That 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 141 

there should have been astonishment to see you so playful and 
gay in a comic rdle, I can well understand. I did not, myself, 
expect it when, for the first time, we tried a comedy ; but you 
will" remember you surprised me, and fairly had my approval 
without reserve, nor did we long tarry over a task in which you 
gave me so little to do. Your success in the two styles has 
been complete, and it should be well established in London that 
you hold there a sceptre which no one can rightfully dispute 
with you." 

In March, 1878, Miss Ward played in London at 
the Queen's Theatre, Emilia to the Hungarian trage- 
dian Neville Moritz's Othello. The Othello met with 
some fine praise shaded by a great deal of carping and 
blame. The " old playgoer," Mr. Charles Sever, and 
his enemy of " The Chronicle," had a skirmish on the 
subject, Mr. Sever coming out the gentleman, logician, 
and critic of the two ; and his verdict in favor of the 
new Emilia was worthy to outweigh many adverse 
voices. Miss Ward was pronounced " the best Emilia 
of our generation." 

After another successful tour of the provinces, she 
lent herself as Portia and Queen Catherine to the 
furtherance of the Shakespeare Memorial Benefit, 1 
chiefly the undertaking of Miss Kate Field, but warmly 
seconded by the " hearty co-operation of the mana- 
gers and artists who interested themselves in the car- 
rying-out of the scheme ; and there was not a single 
hitch anywhere to mar the harmony of the proceed- 
ings." The receipts were ^450. 

American journals were now beginning to find space 

1 For the establishment of a theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, "on Shake- 
speare's ground, for Shakespeare's sake." 



142 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

for accounts of the foreign triumphs of their gifted 
countrywoman ; and she entered into an engagement 
with Messrs. Jarrett and Palmer for a tour of the States 
for the winter and spring of 1878 and 1879. 

Among the many congratulations Miss Ward re- 
ceived upon her prospective American tour, was the 
following from the manager of " The New York Her- 
ald " in Paris. 

Feb. 6, 1878. 
Dear Miss Ward, — I need scarcely say to you that I am 
greatly rejoiced at the conclusion of your engagement. It is 
what I have long been looking forward to for you. I believe it 
was all that was required to crown your hopes and aspirations. 
If any one ever deserved success in this world, you do. You 
have struggled bravely and honestly against difficulties that 
would have dismayed most women of your refinement and ac- 
complishments. I have watched your course with interest ; and 
I can say to you truthfully, and without the slightest desire to 
flatter you, that I have never seen any career more nobly or 
more consistently played out. You are not only an honor to 
your profession, but to your sex; and it is but just that you 
should now meet with the rewards of your efforts, from which 
you might have shrunk, had not the welfare and happiness of 
others been involved in them. Your good news has made me 
glad, and my hearty good wishes follow you everywhere. 
Ever truly your friend, 

J. J. Ryan. 

From Paris, date of March 10, 1878, came the fol- 
lowing flattering query : — 

" Could you find artists, and engage to mount three or four 
English plays to be performed in July at a large theatre in Paris, 
probably the Italian Opera House, which will be offered for 
that purpose by the French Government during the Exposition ? 
Excuse me for troubling you thus, and deign to find in it, among 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 43 

other motives, a sincere and earnest desire to see your great 
talent affirm itself again in Paris. I am also writing to the 
director of the Burg Theatre in Vienna, and to Madame Ris- 
tori to participate in this dramatic event. 

" With best compliments, 

"J. Gust. Bertrand." 

A change of ministry prevented this project from 
fulfilment. 

On the eve of her departure for America she re- 
ceived the following : — 

" Good-by Ristori, adieu Rachel 1 — since it is thus that 
England speaks of you; but for me, adieu Genevieve Ward, 
a name which will have as great a meaning for the artists who 
will come after you I My kind compliments to all your family, 
and to you the felicitations, best wishes, of your affectionate 

" Regnier." 



KATHERINE. 

We heard the eloquence that rings repeal 

Of wrongs, flagitious in a subject's sight; 
We saw the gracious form consent to kneel 

To gain for Buckingham his envied right. 
Like chill and rattling hail on Wolsey fell 

Her stern anathemas 'gainst spleen and pride ; 
Though dark Campeius wrought a subtle spell, 

His art her nobleness and truth defied. 
Most regally she stood, her brow alight 

With the mild halo that o'ertops the great, 
Till Justice in habiliments of night 

For earthly honor gave immortal state. 
Thus have we seen, enraptured with the view, 
The queen whom Ward enacts, whom Shakspeare drew. 

G. W. Pettes. 

Boston Theatre, Boston, Mass., 
April 10, 1879. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 47 



vr. 



EARLY in July, 1878, Miss Ward with her father 
arrived in New- York City by the steamer " City 
of Berlin ; " and within a very few hours after, that 
ubiquitous, energetic, much-abused, sometimes much- 
abusing, often invaluable, and always unquenchable 
being, the newspaper-reporter, had called on her, and 
propounded the question, — 

" What are your plans for acting in America? " 

To which Miss Ward had replied, — 

" I can't say very definitely : the management is in 
the hands of Jarrett and Palmer, and I have scarcely 
seen them since my arrival. I shall go immediately 
on a visit to my friend Adelaide Phillips, at Marshfield, 
Mass., the place adjoining Daniel Webster's. It was 
that which brought me over so early. On Sept. 2 I 
shall appear at Booth's Theatre in 'Jane Shore,' which 
was written by W. G. Wills for Miss Heath, and has 
been played in England for two or three years with 
great success. The play has been re-written for me. 
Mr. Wills thought the third act was not strong enough, 
and has changed it in some important particulars. 
The penance takes place on the stage instead of off: 
the snow-storm scene, in which the heroine dies of 



I48 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

hunger on the stage, I think is one of the strongest in 
the English drama. After 'Jane Shore,' I shall prob- 
ably play in 'Macbeth,' 'Henry the Eighth,' 'Meg 
Merrilies,' Mrs. Haller in 'The Stranger,' Portia in 
'The Merchant of Venice,' Beatrice in 'Much Ado 
about Nothing,' and other parts. If 'Jane Shore' 
should have a long run, some of the others will perhaps 
be postponed until my return from our contemplated 
tour. We propose visiting Philadelphia, Boston, and 
probably all the large cities. It was proposed at first 
that I should make my first appearance in ' Henry the 
Eighth.' I am glad the change of plan was made, for 
I should dislike to meet a New York audience first in 
a character which they have learned to look upon as 
Charlotte Cushman's. I find that I am getting a little 
nervous as the time approaches when I am to make 
my debut here : I find that this is what I have really 
been working for all these years. The measure of 
my success abroad was valuable for its own sake and 
as an earnest of what I might do at home." 

Jennie June, one of the guests invited to share 
with Miss Phillips the pleasure of Miss Ward's visit, 
vvrote : — 

"Miss Ward sailed from England a month ahead of time 
on purpose to enjoy a few weeks at Marshfield ; Miss Matilda 
Phillips — whose magnificent voice has won the most unusual 
and extraordinary encomiums from Sir Jules Benedict and 
Manuel Garcia, the famous teacher — having carried over a 
pressing invitation to London from Miss Adelaide, whose inti- 
mate acquaintance with Miss Ward dates back to the season 
when they sang together in Havana. 

"Can you imagine the group which poured out upon the 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 49 

piazza of this pleasant house when the carnage-wheels were 
heard? First and foremost, Miss Genevieve Ward, who has 
come back to us the celebrated tragedienne, looking taller, and 
perhaps more stately, but beautiful, bright, and spontaneous 
as ever; her father, Col. Ward, so long and so well known as 
a representative of the United States abroad, a still handsome 
and dignified old man, though his hair and beard are silvery- 
white, and he is an invalid past active service." 

Referring to Miss Ward's experiences as Countess 
de Guerbel, Jennie June adds, — 

" This romance of Genevieve Ward's life is never now al- 
luded to by her, and does not seem to have left a cloud upon 
her life ; for she has used it simply as the incentive to hard 
work in her profession. She is very young-looking for one who 
has won so high a place, has a magnificent figure, a manner 
singularly sweet and winning, yet capable of expressing great 
pride; a rich voice, beautiful blue eyes, which become gray 
when moved by thought or feeling, and a face like Ristori's, 
with regular features ; and masses of dark hair, which she simply 
twists in a huge coil, through which she slips a pin or a dagger. 

" I quite appreciated a remark made by Miss Emily Faithfull 
in regard to her, in a private letter to a friend in this country, — 
that she was so sorry she was not born in England : she would 
have been so proud to claim her as an Englishwoman. She 
inspires that sort of feeling. There is no nonsense about her : 
she is conscientious, ardent, perhaps ambitious ; but she could 
never be suspected of any thing mean or unworthy. I had 
formed no opinion of her as an artist before seeing her ; but I 
am inclined to think now that she will be a surprise, — that she 
stands alone in her own particular field of grand tragic art. 

" She is rather careless about clothes, and values her ward- 
robe, not because it is made by Worth, but because each dress 
was designed by Lewis Wingfield, the great historical artist, 
and is strictly accurate, down to the smallest detail. There is 
no tinsel about them, and she wears but little jewelry; but the 
fabrics are fine, and harmonious in sentiment, form, and color, 
and are an admirable study of effects," 



IS© 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



All sorts of biographical sketches, inextricably con- 
fusing truth with error, appeared in the journals of the 
day preceding and following her visits to the chief 
cities of her tour, which she began by playing as Jane 
Shore at Booth's Theatre in New York on the night 
of Sept. 2. Her audiences were large, and received 
her with enthusiasm; and the journals, especially 
the "Tribune," " Herald," and "World," praised her 
performances with very high eulogium. At work 
among the minor critics, however, was a detracting 
spirit, moved beyond question by petty personal pique, 
who wrote up a stock of spiteful comments, and suc- 
ceeded in introducing them from time to time in the 
columns of second-rate journals. The handiwork in 
every instance was glaringly the same, and was ulti- 
mately ascertained to be that of the same person who 
years before in Paris withheld from Mrs. Ward and her 
daughter papers and letters in re the de Guerbel 
marriage intrusted by them to his temporary charge 
until Gen. John A. Dix's peremptory dixit recovered 
them ! This little trail of slime among her laurels 
naturally puzzled some of the fair-minded. 

" The ways of critics in New York are past finding out 
[said a writer in "The Baltimore American"]. For some rea- 
son or other, known only to themselves, a sort of cabal tried to 
form itself against Miss Ward, and write her down. It was said 
that her death-scene was too realistic (alluding to her Queen 
Catherine), that there was no occasion to go through the death 
agonies in order to die upon the stage. Now, one peculiarity of 
Miss Ward's death-scene is the absence of any forced or un- 
natural agonizing. As a woman said who saw her, ' she actu- 
ally dies.' This same woman, a lady of great intelligence and 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 151 

experience, remarked to her in my presence, ' I have seen many 
persons die off the stage, but I never saw one die on the stage 
until I saw you ; and the illusion was so complete that I nearly 
fainted. You must have watched the phenomena very closely.' 
— ' No,' replied Miss Ward, ' I never saw any one die in my 
life. A celebrated physician, whom I consulted, advised me 
not to work off symptoms, but to just die ; and so natural does 
it seem to be, after going through the part, to yield up life and 
all its interests, and so absolutely am I psychologized by that 
idea, that I hardly know for a few moments, myself, whether I 
have not really given up the ghost." 

One Philadelphia paper, not ill-named "The Item," 
busied itself in picking out and assorting single points 
of cavil, from among criticisms which, as a whole, 
broadly recognized her powers, and grouping them as 
the "opinions of the press." This melange quoted 
Mr. Winter of " The Tribune " as saying, concerning 
her Jane Shore, — 

" Those who are waiting to be entranced by a celestial visita- 
tion of overwhelming genius will probably continue to sit upon 
the anxious seats ; " 

but omitted to include these words of Mr. Winter's 
discriminating pen in the same article : — 

" In the intellectuality of her art, as in her personal appear- 
ance, Miss Ward awakens vivid reminiscence of Ristori ; she 
shows the same practical force of character, the same cold will, 
and thorough equipment in mechanical resources ; her presence 
is imposing, her countenance is splendidly expressive, her ges- 
tures are large, free, and picturesque, and her physique obeys 
with unswerving accuracy and instantaneous promptitude the 
monitions of her thought and impulse ; and she is the accom- 
plished mistress of all her powers. A more entirely competent 
actress is seldom seen: she has abundant force, abundant 



I5 2 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

repose, and beautiful finish. ... In the fourth act Miss Ward 
rose to the height of absolutely imaginative grandeur. The 
theatre now rang with delighted plaudits, and there were five 
recalls of the tableau and the actress after the curtain fell. The 
success of the night stood assured at that point. It was cer- 
tainly a most brilliant climax ; and those who can rejoice in see- 
ing a fine work accomplished with perfect adequacy of art will 
view with unqualified admiration the acting of Miss Genevieve 
Ward." 



Miss Ward herself did not like the role of Jane 
Shore, preferring always tragedy to melodrama; and 
this fact was at the bottom of any want felt in her 
impersonation, which was nevertheless, as an artistic 
performance, without blemish, and drew large houses 
for the few weeks of its run. 

On the 20th September she played the sleep-walk- 
ing scene of Lady Macbeth, on the occasion of the 
" Ladies' Matinee for the Benefit of the Municipal 
Fund to relieve the Sufferers by the Yellow-Fever in 
the South ; " and on the 23d received the following 
from the secretary of the committee appointed to take 
charge of such funds : — 

New York, Sept. 23, 1878. 

Miss Genevieve Ward, — The committee desire to return 
to you their sincere thanks for your kindness in assisting at the 
matinee benefit given at Booth's Theatre on last Friday after- 
noon, in aid of the sufferers by yellow-fever in the South. The 
remembrance of your kindly act will always remain fresh in the 
memories of these poor fever-stricken people. 
Respectfully, 

Ernest T. Fellowes, 
Secretary. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 153 

Her Queen Catherine and Lady Macbeth continued 
to bring the best audiences of New York to Booth's 
Theatre ; and her engagement there proved a genuine 
success. 

Miss Anna E. Dickinson, who had then never met 
Miss Ward personally, was discussing with Mrs. Croly 
the relative merits of Miss Ward's Queen Catherine 
and Lady Macbeth, and Miss Cushman's impersona- 
tion of the same rules. 

Their conversation chanced to occur in the hearing 
of a certain reporter who had a personal grudge to 
satisfy against Miss Ward, and who was now en- 
grossed in casting little pellets all along Miss Ward's 
victorious way. Conceiving that now indeed his hour 
had come, he at once stated in " The Capital," 
a sheet published in Washington, that Miss Dickin- 
son had pronounced Miss Ward far inferior to Miss 
Cushman. 

Very soon after this, Miss Ward received the follow- 
ing letter : — 

Fifth-avenue Hotel, Nov. 5, 1878. 

Dear Miss Ward, — I trust you have been infinitely less 
annoyed than I, by what I find set forth of a talk of mine in 
the last number of " The Capital." 

In a conversation I supposed strictly private, I commented 
on your Queen Catherine and Lady Macbeth as compared with 
those of Charlotte Cushman. 

At the close of a great many pros and cons, what I actually 
said was : " The long and the short of the matter is, that I like 
Genevieve Ward's Lady Macbeth as much better than I liked 
that of Charlotte Cushman, as Charlotte Cushman's Queen 
Catherine seems to me greater than that of Miss Ward j " 
and, if I am not mistaken in you, you are quite broad enough 



154 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

to allow another to disagree with your conception (not with the 
working-out of that conception) of any given role, without 
thinking such an one either malevolent or a fool. It is not that 
I think you will specially value my opinion one way or other, 
but for my own content, that I want you to know the whole 
truth, and not the half, — which is generally the meanest of 
lies. 

Very truly yours, 

Anna E. Dickinson. 



In accordance with one of the most blessed of the 
laws of life, the little seed sown in spite blossomed, 
despite the sower, in a warm friendship between Miss 
Dickinson and Miss Ward, in which each does full 
justice to the other's grand powers. Of Miss Dickin- 
son's undeniable dramatic genius, Miss Ward has 
spoken to me in very high terms, regretting, as does 
many another eminent judge, that she should have 
received, as an actress, so little of the broad appre- 
ciation which, both as encouragement and desert, was 
manifestly her due. 

From New York to Brooklyn, Providence (which 
she took by storm), Philadelphia, Washington (where 
she was the honored guest of Mrs. President Hayes), 
Baltimore, Rochester, Buffalo, Hamilton, Toronto, 
Montreal, Portland, Albany, Springfield, Worcester, 
Providence, and Boston, Miss Ward's tour was one 
triumphal march, the fruit, not only of genius, but of 
most conscientious and patiently faithful labors apart 
from her own noble impersonations ; for Miss Ward 
manages all her plays, teaches, directs, superintends 
the rehearsals, selects even the goods for the costumes, 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



155 



arranges the tableaux, — in a word, carefully supervises 
the entire representation of which she fonns the nucleus. 
The following letters and quotations from letters 
received by Miss Ward during this tour are an unmis- 
takable verdict upon her art. 

101 East 59TH Street, New York, 
Oct. 2, 1878. 

My dear Miss Ward, — I must thank you for the very 
great pleasure you gave us last night, by taking us back for 
three centuries, and into the presence of the veritable Queen 
Catherine as understood by Shakespeare. Your impersonation 
is admirable, and will live in my memory among the great crea- 
tions I have witnessed, beginning with Rachel's. You were 
every inch a queen : the death-scene especially was really elec- 
trifying. My friends and myself left the theatre under a spell, 
charmed by the wonderful art with which you recreated the 
proud and unhappy Aragonese princess. ... Can you give us 
the pleasure of your company to dinner, enfamille, etc. ? 
Yours very cordially, 

Mary L. Booth. 

456 Pearl Street, New York, 
Oct. 10, 1878. 

Messrs. Jarrett and Palmer. 

Gentlemen, — As an old artist permit me to give my con- 
scientious opinion, that for originality of conception, tenderness 
of feeling, and startling power, Miss Ward's Queen Catherine 
is the finest I ever saw ; and I have played with all the great 
representatives of that character since 1845. 

Her " make-up " in the last scene was a marvel of artistic 
limning, and the " mise en schie " I have never seen equalled in 
this country or Europe. 

Yours respectfully, 

George C. Bryden. 

The following, addressed to Miss Ward's dear friend 
Mrs. Sanford, is of special interest, from the fact that 



156 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the writer, a young painter of rare promise, was en- 
tirely deaf, and makes this beautiful and feeling tribute 
through the interpretation of sight alone. 

New York, Oct. 13, 1878. 
Dear Mrs. Sanford, — I cannot tell you how many times 
I have thought of you, and how sweet it was in you to send the 
beautiful Miss Ward to see me, and to give me the pleasure I 
had on Friday evening. My judgment of acting is founded on 
no knowledge of it ; but what sensibility I have in my own art, 
I cannot help exercising upon what I see at the theatre. Miss 
Ward seems unquestionably great to me. I was deeply affected 
by every movement she made : every look and gesture seemed 
fully charged with the mournfulness of Queen Catherine's fate, 
and the beauty of the character shone out in every expression 
of her noble face. In the last act, where the queen is broken 
in spirit, and tremulous with suffering and age, it is the most 
touching thing I ever beheld. Her costume and " make-up " 
were as wonderful as her acting, and such subtle and harmoni- 
ous acting I never saw. There was reason and love and beauty 
and temperateness in it ; it was deep, strong, and sonorous ; noth- 
ing in it that I could wish otherwise. It had the solemn color- 
ing of a Venetian picture; and her hands were a marvellous 
study, a perfect revelation. I am so filled with admiration, that 
I must needs write confusedly of it. . . . The costume of the 
last act was a great piece of work, — a rich material of a sombre 
golden tone, something like winter grass, and trimmed with 
fur ; and the other dresses had an artistic magnificence I have 
never seen equalled. The more I think of it, the more I am 
touched by your kindness ; and I long to be face to face with 
you to tell you by my silence how deeply I appreciate this 
thoughtful act of yours. 

Ever in great respect and affection yours, 

Oliver I. Lay. 

A gentleman, formerly consul at Manchester, wrote 
to Miss Ward from — 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 57 

St. Louis, Oct. 15, 1878. 
We wexe very glad to hear of your success over the water, 
and I read with much pleasure of the furore your last appear- 
ances in Dublin -created. I only envy those who were present, 
and able to join in the applause. And, now that you are in this 
country, we seem as far from you as before, for our local papers 
— except in describing how Solomon in all his glory was not 
arrayed as you are in Jane Shore — have left us in ignorance 
of what you are doing. Mrs. Cabot tells us you have been 
received with success. Well, if Success had not tripped down 
Broadway, and helped you over the steamer's side, and made 
his best bow to you, and introduced you to everybody he knew, 
he would have written himself down an ass, and ought never 
again to have shown his welcome face among decent people ! 
. . . The house is so large that we have two guest-chambers, 
one of which we call " Miss Ward's room ; " and in future ages 
we hope to have our boy point to its bed with pride, and tell 
his children that thereon Queen Catherine rested when she 
halted in her royal progress through the West. . . . For I take 
it for granted you will come to St. Louis some time during the 
winter or the spring. Kindest regards to your father. Tell 
him that I cannot get at the true inwardness of Western poli- 
tics, and I think it about time we had a conference to settle the 
true state of the country. And now, with the Cranes' love, 
believe them to be your majesty's most loyal and affectionate 
servants, 

Newton Crane, et al. 

Liverpool, Oct. 22, 1878. 
Dear Friend, — We have heard of your success with the 
greatest possible delight, although we expected nothing less 
than a complete triumph for you. It has indeed been achieved 
under adverse circumstances : the heat must have been simply 
awful. I knew you would like Mrs. Croly (Jennie June), and 
I am proud to have brought you together. You are one of the 
few women I dearly love and esteem, and we think and talk of 
you continually. Your photographs, which delight us, have a 



158 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

place of honor on the mantlepiece : this brings your name to 
many lips, among others to those of Mr O'Neill of Manchester, 
who called the very day they arrived. He was all you repre- 
sented, and he was charmed with " Zicka." I enclose his notice, 
and also Mr. E. R. Russell's ; for, knowing the men, you will 
measure their criticisms. The Kendalls are lovely to her ; and, 
indeed, the more I see of Mrs. Kendall, the more I admire her 
as an actress, and as a woman. . . . Don't forget how welcome 
news of you will always be to us. How I should like to have 
an ideal theatre here, with you as star, and my child working 
with you, — a thoroughly good company, excellent plays, and 
bishops in front as well as sporting lords and newspaper pro- 
prietors ! . . . I am sorry for , as I am for all unfortunate 

women. As "Zicka" says every night, in tones which have 
always riveted the noisiest audience, " Life is so hard to some 
women, and men are so merciless I " She is now at the theatre, 
or would send some message of her own ; for you are one of 
her " loadstars." God bless you ! 

Ever your affectionate 

Emily Faithfull. 

Oporto, Spain, Nov. 21, 1878. 
Dear Friend, — Forgive my delay. You know what it is 
to make up a company, and put a whole repertoire on the stage. 
Well, doing things as usual by steam, I was obliged to mount 
" Marie Antoinette " in four rehearsals, and the others in the 
same haste, remaining in the theatre off-nights eleven hours to 
rehearse. I was afraid of falling ill, but the electricity which 
always animates the artist, and me in particular, enlarged my 
forces; and the tremendous applause of the different publics 
had their influence on my strength, and re-tempered me. . . . 
On the 23d of December I shall again be in Rome, changing 
the life of inspiration for the exactions of society, but which has 
the advantage of making you enjoy repose. To me it seems 
beautiful to be the artist now and then, renovating the spirit in 
the emotions of glory, and then turn to enjoy the compensations 
of the dear quiet of home. ... I felicitate you on your grand 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 59 

success, which will, I know, augment; and in the end your 
triumph will be complete over all the annoyances which, after 
all, you must have naturally prevised. I am sorry to hear of 
your father's ill health, and I understand how much it worries 
you. Hard, inexorable law of nature 1 . . . Give me, when you 
can, detailed accounts of yourself. How you must enjoy being 
in New York! I envy you: it is one of the dearest remem- 
brances of my career. Have me in your heart with the friend- 
ship I bear you. Your 

Adelaide Ristori (Del Grillo). 

Mrs. Ward received the following from an American 
lady : — 

Hamilton. 
Dear Madam, — We have just parted from your wonder- 
ful Genevieve, who is making her Canadian tour, and with whom 
my family, including myself, my husband, children, and sisters, 
are madly in love. I thought you might like these few lines 
from across the sea, to tell you how well and how bright she 
looks, how every one respects and loves her, and how we would 
all do every thing in our power for her. She is indeed a won- 
derful creature, infusing life and strength wherever she goes. 
I was often afraid we bored her ; but we love her and admire 
her so, I'm afraid we couldn't help it. 

Utica, Feb. 19, 1879. 
My dear Miss Ward, — You speak of your gratification 
at the approval of competent critics. It is no less a pleasure 
to one who is paid to sit in judgment upon the drama, to receive 
some sign of recognition that his work is more than the per- 
functory phrases of a daily drudge. Most of all is it a delight 
when such tokens come in the form of such charming notes as 
I have the honor to thank you for. As a matter of course, 
dramatic criticism in the country must rest under many dis- 
advantages — as must dramatic representation. What the latter 
lacks in force of surroundings, in scenery, in the spirit which a 
crowded and cultured metropolitan house inspires, the former 



j5o GENEVIEVE WARD. 

also loses from lack of time, from infrequent requisition, and 
from the hurry of a slender-staffed daily. More than this, there 
is the difficulty of talking to an audience not accustomed to 
make distinctions between plays and players, or to distinguish 
with any degree of nicety artifice from art. Embarrassed thus, 
I am more than pleased to have pleased you. I think I can 
speak for Utica, in tendering to the artist whose Jane Shore 
is still a rich and beauteous memory with us, a cordial and 
hearty welcome at whatever time she may arrange to come. I 
remain with kindest wishes, 

Very truly yours, 

Harold Frederic. 

Such a letter as the foregoing must have convinced 
Miss Ward that a " slender- staffed daily" is sometimes 
equipped with a pen more effective for both courtesy 
and capacity, and tipped with finer artistic perception, 
than always fills the critical departments of the pleth- 
orically-staffed metropolitan dailies. 

Cambridge, April 9, 1879. 
Dear Miss Ward, — My nephew's name in full is Alexan- 
der Wadsworth Longfellow; but the first name is generally 
dropped by us. How very kind it is of you to offer him these 
letters to Paris! He is very grateful for this mark of your 
interest in him. So also am I, well remembering the forlorn 
condition of a young stranger in the great city, with no one to 
turn to for sympathy but his banker. I am looking forward 
with great impatience to Thursday and Saturday, and am, dear 
Miss Ward, till then and after, 

Very sincerely yours, 

Henry W. Longfellow. 

Mr. Longfellow, Mr. O. W. Holmes, Mr. Edwin P. 
Whipple, and other literary celebrities, attended Miss 
Ward's representations during her short stay of only 



GENEVIEVE WARD. r 6 T 

a week in Boston ; and Mr. Longfellow told me that 
he considered her acting among the very greatest he 
had ever seen, and quite the most artistically faultless. 
Owing perhaps to the fact of Mr. Longfellow's appear- 
ing twice at the theatre during the week, or quite 
possibly to the grace and vigor of the sonnet by Mr. 
G. W. Pettes, published in " The Boston Advertiser," 
it was supposed to be the tribute to Miss Ward of the 
bard of the Charles ; and a raid was accordingly made 
on "The Advertiser," which could hardly supply the 
demand. 

As a capable bit of appreciation, and at the same 
time a snub of the Hub administered by a fledged 
and famous Bostonian, the following is given : — . 

Cambridge, April 10, 1879. 

Dear Madame, — I trust that a sincere love" of the true in 
any branch of art will sufficiently excuse me, a stranger, for my 
hardihood in addressing you a few lines to express my appre- 
ciation of your acting in " Jane Shore." I have watched with 
interest the remarks the newspaper critics have made upon 
this performance, and have been more than ever convinced 
that those whom Bostonians call critics were more properly 
termed reporters. Their opinions about the loftiest grades of 
art have dwindled down to be the bare repetition of set phrases, 
"magnetism," "pose," etc., etc. 

Although a native of this charmingly pedantic city myself, 
I hope that I have seen enough outside of its narrow streets to 
enable me to judge more fairly of Boston than many of my 
fellow-citizens; and I am obliged to confess that in our art- 
education we are still mere beginners. This is particularly the 
case with the stage ; where, since the death of Miss Cushman, 
we have seen no first-rate artiste. Never having had the pleas- 
ure of seeing your acting before last Saturday night, imagine 
my surprise and delight at witnessing a performance, in many 



l62 GENEVIEVE WARD, 

points bringing to my mind the characteristic features of the 
highest school of acting of to-day, — the Italian. In many pas- 
sages of that harrowing play, " Jane Shore," I fancied m) self 
back in Rome, thrilled by Ristori herself! I do not know 
whether you will agree with me in regarding Italy as the pres- 
ent home of the drama, or not : at any rate, you cannot think it 
a lack of appreciation which associates you with a school whose 
present masters are Salvini, Ristori, and Ernesto Rossi. I am 
looking forward with expectation to seeing Shakespeare's hero- 
ines once more in the hands of one who I am sure will not fail 
to bring out their mighty lights and shadows." 

Miss Ward's success in Boston was very genuine, 
and of that best kind that augments in the memory. 
If the criticism of the press was not altogether just or 
capable, it was seldom carping, and, on the whole, 
appreciative, with some instances of specially able 
recognition, and discriminating encomium; and her 
audiences, composed of the best-qualified people of 
Boston and Cambridge literary, artistic, and social 
circles, were won to her, not only for that week of 
laborious and brilliant achievement, but for as often 
and long as Miss Ward will come to them. She left in 
April for Paris, to fulfil an engagement to play Queen 
Catherine at the National Theatre in that capital ; and 
on the 2d of June she wrote to me from St. John's 
Wood, London : — 

"I fear I shall not return to America this season. I am 
obliged to produce my new play here before I take it there, or 
I lose the copyright in England ; and, besides, my perform- 
ances in Paris are postponed until the winter. They wished 
me to rehearse and mount the play of ' Henry VIII.' in two 
weeks, which was impossible, and therefore I refused. A kind 
letter sustaining me in this refusal came from M. Regnier, who 



GENEVIEVE WARD. ^3 

'felicitated me on my good sense I ' ... It pleases me so much 
that Mr. Longfellow remembers me, and thinks to ask for my 
welfare. I shall always treasure the recollection of my little 
visit to his home in Cambridge among my happiest souvenirs. 
... A delightful testimony from Mr. Emerson, who saw me 
play Jane Shore, but whom I did not have the good fortune to 
meet while in Boston, will, I know, give you pleasure. He sent 
me an invitation to visit him at Concord when I return, and the 
lines he wrote for me were, — 

' Oh, what is heaven but the fellowship 
Of minds, that each can stand against the world 
By its own meek but incorruptible will ! 

Ralph Waldo Emerson.'" 



The new play to which Miss Ward alluded in the 
foregoing letter was written by Palgrave Simpson and 
Claude Templar, and was entitled "Zillah," and re- 
quired Miss Ward to fill a double role as Zillah the 
gypsy, and again as her twin-sister the Lady Con- 
stance. This play was placed by Miss Ward on the 
stage of the Lyceum during Mr. Irving's vacation in 
August, 1879, with great care and expense as to scenic 
effects, and elegance and variety of costume. Her 
acting was pronounced worthy of all praise ; but the 
play was so worried and badgered and torn to pieces 
by the critics and the public, that after four nights rep- 
resentation, Miss Ward, having lost ^2,800 by it, re- 
moved it without protest or complaint. 

One eminent critic had written to her : — 

"You did all that was possible with the impossible ; but no 
actress that ever breathed could have made a triumph of 
•Zillah.'" 



1 64 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

And Mr. Wingfield, wise and unfailing friend, wrote 
her these words of friendliest stern fibre : — 

" What you have to do is to play at once something which 
you are sure of, to efface with all speed the recollection of a 
fiasco of which, happily, you are clearly the victim, not the 
cause. Should you close now, even for a night, it would be a 
sign of faiblesse, theatrically speaking, and a very grave error 
in judgment. If ' Lucrezia ' is not possible Thursday, why then 
Saturday; but to the earnest and broad-shouldered all things 
are possible." 

And Thursday it was. Without losing a night, 
silent as a Spartan as to the burden and strain she 
was enduring, she produced and appeared in " Lucre- 
zia Borgia" with noble success. 

She had received this little note : — 

Dear Madame, — I do not leave home as often as I used; 
but, if you will put my name down for a quiet corner, I should 
like to come and see you in " Lucrezia Borgia." The situations 
are grand, and I shall like to see them divorced from the flimsy 
... of the Italian composer. 

Yours truly, 

Charles Reade. 

In view of the fact that Mr. Herman Merivale, 
author of the play of "Forget Me Not," now testifies, 
in the litigation anent that play, that Miss Ward had 
never won dramatic recognition until he taught her 
how to play " Forget Me Not," the following letters 
have special interest and value. 

London, Aug. 9, 1879. 
I must write a line to thank you for a couple of hours of 
immense gratification. I have seen you act now, and was per- 
fectly delighted with the mingled grace, power, and tenderness 



GENEVIEVE WARD. ^5 

of the performance. It was superb from end to end ; but the 
transition in the third act from the imperious, domineering 
Lucrezia, to the soft, impassioned woman, was the gem of the 
part. Unstung by jealousy, what man could have said "no" 
to such pleading ? Compliments on your profound knowledge 
of your art, you must be tired of ; but I can honestly say that no 
two of your last night's audience were more pleased than Her- 
man Merivale and myself. 

Your admiring friend, 

Hawley Smart. 

Miss Patty Chapman, the niece of the famous Mrs. 
Charles Kean, with whom she often played, wrote, 
date of Aug. 9 : — 

" Thank you again and again, dear Miss Ward, for the ' real 
treat ' you afforded us last night, — my cousin, Mrs. Charles 
Kean's only daughter, her husband, and myself. You acted 
Lucrezia splendidly, with so much power, and such finish in 
all your great scenes ; and your voice is most harmonious and 
telling. You often reminded us of my aunt Mrs. Kean; and 
Herman Merivale, who joined us during the performance, said 
the same thing ; and many would think we could not pay you 
a greater compliment." 

"Grace Greenwood" (Mrs. Lippincott) — whose 
daughter's debut had taken place under Miss Ward's 
direction — wrote to her on the same date : — 

" I had great delight in your superb acting last night : you 
remind me of Ristori in her grandest moments. I look forward 
to ' Guy Mannering,' your Meg is so great." 

After a brilliant morning performance of Meg Mer- 
rilies, she continued to act nightly in the role of Lucre- 
zia ; the critics hardly knowing which to applaud most, 
her admirable playing, or her equally admirable energy 



1 66 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

in thus quickly and competently producing play after 
play with a truly royal determination to satisfy the 
public. 

Miss Ward impersonated Stephanie, Marquise de 
Mohrivart, for the first time, on the night of Aug. 22, 
in the play "Forget Me Not," which she has since 
rendered famous. The public was interested and 
puzzled, uncertain at what rate to estimate this new 
and complex role : the critics pronounced it superla- 
tive. Meantime a terrible blow fell on this brave 
woman, in the sudden news by cable of the death of 
her father, Aug. 28, at the home of his brother in the 
West, among relatives who loved him, and sought to 
cheer his last moments, but not, as he and she would 
have had it, in the arms of the daughter whose chival- 
rously tender friend and companion he had been for 
so many years, and who had loved him with a beauti- 
ful comprehension and unvarying devotion. 

The very night of these tidings, Miss Ward appeared 
as usual in " Forget Me Not." Letters from friends 
came during the ensuing days, to share her sorrow, 
and to show her they knew what depths of tenderness 
bleeding in silence lay under the heroic fulfilment of 
her public duty. From among these tender expres- 
sions of sympathy from her venerably beautiful and 
gifted friend Madame Colmache, from Mrs. Louise 
Chandler Moulton (whose poems have shown the world 
glimpses of one of the most sympathetic hearts that 
beats), from Miss Matilda Phillips, from authors, actors, 
artists, critics, I have chosen this one, because of the 
peculiar fitness of its few strong, eloquent words. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 167 

Manchester, Sept. 3, 1879. 
Dear Miss Ward, — I am deeply grieved to hear of the 
death of your father : you will know that I am not using the 
language of conventional condolence. Though our acquaint- 
ance was not long, I had learned to admire his estimable quali- 
ties, and was proud to believe that he had admitted me to his 
friendship. I was still in the hope that I might see him again, 
and not once only. I beg permission to offer you my heartfelt 
sympathy. It must be inexpressibly hard to pursue your task 
under the shadow of this great affliction. It was wiser and 
nobler to accept the blow as one of the inevitable sorrows of 
our common lot, than to obey the natural impulse to surrender 
yourself to your grief ; and it may help you to sustain yourself 
in your course, to be assured that your friends, while sharing 
your mourning, will admire you the more for the brave front 
you have maintained under one of the heaviest strokes of fate. 
I remain yours faithfully, 

Arthur O'Neill. 

And this one from the world-beloved Italian : — 

Paris, Sept. 14, 1879. 
My poor Friend, — Though you have long been prepared 
for the death ©f your father, I can well understand that it comes 
as a great sorrow. I will not repeat to you the things that are 
usually said in these sad hours ; but I will say to you, my Gene- 
vieve, " Courage 1 " and think with me that life is only a field 
of crosses for those unfortunates who have inherited from nature 
sensitive hearts. ... I have been happy in your triumph. 
You have finally passed the Rubicon. I have always said, and 
I will always say, you deserve to win the fullest fortune for 
your perseverance, tenacity, and indefatigable study ; and now 
at last, see ! you are walking the road of the few, wearing the 
mantle of greatness. Courage ! These sorrows will pass : the 
love, the labor, and the glory will remain. Your 

Adelaide Ristori. 

In September, just as the public began to perceive 



j 68 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

that Stephanie was a creation, Miss Ward, resigning 
the Lyceum to Mr. Irving, left London, and, in a fall 
and winter tour of the provinces with " Forget Me 
Not," made one of the most complete artistic and 
popular successes ever recorded on the stage ; toward 
the close of which she received from the gentlemen 
of her company an elegant writing-case inscribed to 
" Miss Genevieve Ward, in pleasant remembrance of 
the ' Forget Me Not' tour of 1879; " also a daintily 
beautiful white fan, hand-painted with forget-me-nots, 
and her monogram worked in those flowers, presented 
by the ladies of her company, with whom, as Stepha- 
nie, she had been so long at variance. 

The following letters accompanied the gifts : — 

Theatre Royal, Manchester, Dec. 9, 1879. 
Dear Miss Ward, — On the eve of terminating your first 
" Forget Me Not " tour, we, the gentlemen of your company, 
respectfully beg your acceptance of the accompanying writing- 
desk as a souvenir of our sincere appreciation of the courtesy 
and kindness you have invariably extended to us. We also 
take this opportunity of conveying to you our warmest con- 
gratulations on the artistic success which has happily attended 
you. That you may long be spared to adorn our profession, of 
which you are so brilliant an example, is the earnest wish of 
yours, 

Frank Clements. 

F. Charles. 

D. Culver. 

Ian Robertson. 

J. H. Cobbe. 

" Misses Foley, Alice and Rose, beg the Marquise de Mohri- 
vart's acceptance of the accompanying fan as a peace-offering, 
trusting that with the close of the present week their long dis- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 69 

agreement may come to an end. They feel that as a gift it is 
not all they could wish, but hope that as a slight souvenir it 
may find favor in her eyes, and that hereafter she will be able 
to say with a certain American poetess, — 

1 And yet, whenever I wave my fan, 
The soft south wind of memory blows.' " 



" Why may a man live two lives, while a woman must stand or fall 
by one ? 

"What was the difference between us two, Sir Horace Welby, in 
those bygone years, that should make me now a leper and you a saint ? 

" There would be no place in creation for such women as I, if it were 
not for such men as you ! " Stephanie. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



173 



VII. 



EXACTLY six months from the date of its first 
production at the Lyceum, " Forget Me Not " 
was reproduced at the Prince of Wales Theatre under 
the management of Mr. Edgar Bruce, Feb. 22, 1880, 
with the only Stephanie possible in Miss Ward's inimi- 
table creation. The echoes of her provincial tour had 
stirred London to unwonted heights of expectation. 

" The real success of the present production [said a writer 
in a London magazine] — for the cachet given by the Prince of 
Wales, though affecting a certain small circle, would have little 
influence with the general body of playgoers — lies in the fact 
that those persons by whose verdict dramatic fortunes are made 
or marred, and who are by no means the regular newspaper 
critics, were away from London in the autumn, and hence the 
'fiery cross* which is passed from hand to hand through an 
enormous succession of coteries had no chance of circulation. 
When Miss Ward had once been seen by the cognoscenti, her 
success was achieved ; and, indeed, it is very long since such a 
triumph of pure artistic skill and training has been witnessed 
on the English stage." 

The little theatre 1 was crowded nightly, by the 

1 The pretty little box known as the Prince of Wales Theatre, in London, 
with its narrow and perplexing winding passages and inadequate exits, is by- 
far the worst fire-trap for a complete human holocaust I have ever entered. 
Wherever the responsibility for the tragical risk incurred by those who enter 
there, rests, it is an exceedingly heavy one. 



174 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

cleverest and most aristocratic, from the Prince of 
Wales down through the widening network of royalty, 
nobility, and wealth. 

When the Prince of Wales first saw Miss Ward in 
" Forget Me Not," he sent for Mr. Bruce, the mana- 
ger, and asked who it was who played the part of 
Stephanie. "Because," said the Prince, "she is un- 
mistakably a lady : only her manner in putting the 
sugar in Sir Horace's cup, shows the lady bred. She 
has hardly an equal on the London stage. Where has 
she been? Why have I never heard of her? " 

" Her mother is in the opposite box : I will go to 
her, and bring your Highness word," said Mr. Bruce. 

"She is of a very old American family, and the 
widow of a Russian officer," was Mrs. Ward's simple 
reply to Mr. Bruce 's inquiry. 

After the play, the Prince went to the green-room, 
and sent to Miss Ward, asking permission to see her. 

Complimenting her warmly upon her performance, 
and especially noting her pronunciation of French in 
certain phrases and songs belonging to her rdle, he 
asked, "You are a French woman, are you not? " 

" No, your Highness : my family have been for two 
hundred and sixty years in America, but were origi- 
nally from London." — " Ah ! " said the Prince, " you 
speak French marvellously well ; but I have always 
thought the women of America the cleverest in the 
world." 

He then asked her if she would not like to play a 
French drama in London, and, when she assented, 
suggested " L'Aventuriere." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



175 



"Is not that your mother?" said the Prince, seeing 
a lady passing the green-room door. " Will you pre- 
sent her?" 

He complimented Mrs. Ward upon the grand talent 
her daughter displayed, and tendered the most grace- 
ful compliments from the Princess of Wales upon the 
same theme. 

On another occasion, when calling upon Miss Ward 
in the green-room after the play, he was accompanied 
by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Teck, and a Rus- 
sian nobleman. The Prince of Wales showed to Miss 
Ward some fine portraits of herself which he and the 
Princess of Wales had selected, and begged she would 
do him the honor to write her name upon them as a 
souvenir of the pleasant hours passed in witnessing her 
performance. 

While they were conversing, Miss Ward, hearing the 
jingle of the bells worn by her tiny pet dog who ac- 
companies her everywhere, and fearing he might stray 
off, called out, " Come here, Teck ! " 

The gentlemen started ; and Miss Ward hastily 
apologized, recollecting the name of one of her dis- 
tinguished visitors, — 

" My little dog's name is Teck, — short for Thecla, 
a German character in one of my plays." 

They all laughed heartily ; and in came the little fel- 
low with the princely name, and straightway rushed at 
the Duke of Edinburgh, who had shaken his hat in 
token of friendly intentions. 

" She will bite me!" exclaimed the Duke. 

" Basket, Teck ! " cried Miss Ward reprovingly ; and 



I yS GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the little creature, who is as obedient to her mistress 
as she is haughty and unapproachable to others, ran 
out of the room, and curled up in her basket. 

As the gentlemen were descending the stairs after 
having taken their leave, Miss Ward heard them laugh- 
ing again, and plainly distinguished the voice of the 
Prince of Wales saying merrily to his cousin, " Basket, 
Teck ! " 

Scarcely had they gone, when the Russian nobleman 
who had been with them returned, and, bowing to 
Miss Ward with an expression of great respect, said, 
" I dare not tell you my name or nationality, for fear 
you will hate me ; but I wish once again to express 
my great admiration of your genius." 

"You need not hesitate to admit yourself a Rus- 
sian," replied Miss Ward. " I am the widow of a Rus- 
sian, but I love your emperor for all his kindness to 
me." 

One of the London journals had the following : — 

"Genevieve Ward continues to delight the lovers of good 
acting by her marvellously artistic personation of Stephanie, in 
' Forget Me Not,' at the Prince of Wales's. The clever actress 
has twice within a fortnight been honored by the patronage of 
H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, who has been liberal in his 
compliments respecting a performance which, we have before 
said, he characterizes as the most perfect he has witnessed 
apart from the French stage. On Thursday evening a splendid 
audience included Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, Mr. and Mrs. Kendal, 
Mr. and Mrs. Hare, Mr. Tom Taylor, and Mr. Forbes Robert- 
son. At the close of the play Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft, Mr. and 
Mrs. Kendal, and Mr. Forbes Robertson congratulated Miss 
Ward in the green-room upon her success, and warmly compli- 
mented her on her grand performance. This little scene was 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 77 

happily described by Mr. Kendal as ' the fourth act of " Forget 
Me Not," with a full cast.' " 

At the request of the Prince of Wales, Hamilton 
Aide, his personal fnend, and well known as novelist, 
poet, and musician, arranged a private entertainment 
at his own residence, at which Miss Ward played in a 
French drama with M. Marius, with her usual brilliant 
success. 

Miss Ward had greatly improved upon the original 
version of "Forget Me Not," in many little points of 
adaptation called for by her own conception of her 
role, and notably strengthened the effect of the last 
scene. This gave rise to murmurs from the authors, 
but the critics upheld the artist. Further trouble was 
occasioned by her elimination of the acting character 
of Rose, the piece being manifestly improved thereby. 

Meanwhile a proposal, likely to have proved very 
interesting had it been carried into effect, was made to 
Miss Ward by Mrs. Sabine Greville, a lady of much 
aesthetic cultivation, and fine critical taste, and a 
cousin of Hamilton Aide's. 

This lady having seen, and like every one else been 
greatly impressed by, Miss Ward's Stephanie, wrote to 
her : — 

Milford Cottage, Godalming. 
Dear Miss Ward, — Mrs. Lewes is a great friend and near 
neighbor of mine ; and, in telling her this afternoon of your mar- 
vellous talent and innate genius, I was reminded of a piece she 
wrote some years ago, " Armgart," which I imagine you could 
appreciate. Mr. Lewes, who was certainly the greatest dra- 
matic authority in Europe, has often said " Armgart " would 
have succeeded in Paris. ... I remember Rachel and Desolee, 



lyS . GENEVIEVE WARD. 

and, until I saw you, never imagined I should have the happi- 
ness of looking on their like again. ... If you should ever 
play " Armgart," I am sure Mrs. Lewes's highest aspirations 
for her piece would be satisfied. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Sabine Greville. 
Later Mrs. Greville wrote : — 

" I have been talking again with my dear neighbor Mrs. 
Cross (George Eliot) ; and yesterday she spoke so anxiously 
about ' Armgart,' that I thought I would venture to ask you 
if you had any thought of it. It seems to me, it would have 
a tremendous succfc de curiosite, apart from its literary merit, 
and you could make it almost a monologue." 

"The London Observer" of April 25, 1880, 
stated : — 

" A mistake underlies the statement that Miss Genevieve 
Ward's intended performance of Angier's ' L'Aventuriere ' at 
the Prince of Wales Theatre was in any way suggested by 
Madame Bernhardt's recent assumption of the rdle of Clorinde, 
at the Theatre Frangais. The experiment which is to be tried 
here next month owes its origin to a suggestion made by the 
Prince of Wales that Miss Ward should act here in a French 
play, with the support of English artists." 

At that time Miss Bernhardt had not played 
" L'Aventuriere," nor was it known that she was 
intending to do so : in accepting the Prince's sugges- 
tion, Miss Ward could not, therefore, have been in- 
fluenced by a wish to institute a comparison between 
her own powers and those of the French artiste. Be- 
fore Miss Ward appeared as Clorinde, however, Miss 
Bernhardt had attempted and failed in that rdle in 
Paris. 



G EXE VI EVE WARD. 179 

"The Prince of Wales advises you to play in French in 
London ? [wrote M. Regnier.] I find his advice very good, and 
I also think that 'Forget Me Not' in English might have a 
great success in Paris. ' L'Aventuriere ' is a piece which suits 
you exactly." . 

Most of the critics in debating this novel undertak- 
ing predicted failure ; and a writer in " The Standard " 
singularly enough predicted it on the one point where 
there could be no two opinions, — her French pronun- 
ciation. Miss Ward sent the paper to M. Regnier, 
who replied : — 

Rue de Rome, Paris, 
May 6, 1880. 

My dear Friend, — When the talent of an artist is attacked, 
the best thing for him to do is to answer with the talent itself, 
and in no other manner. Do you remember the philosopher 
in whose hearing movement was denied, and who, instead of 
answering, began to walk ? A journalist considers it impossible 
that you should play in French. Is not French your own lan- 
guage ? And when, in Paris itself, you played one whole act 
of a tragedy in French alexandrines, at the Porte St. Martin, 
was there one person in the house who could have suspected 
that it was not a French actress whom he beheld on the stage ? 
Play in French in London, and no English ear will have the 
right to reproach you with your pronunciation or your accent, 
since the subtlety of our own organs never permitted us to do so. 
Indeed, I do not understand the criticism of the writer in " The 
Standard ; " for he is not serious when he imputes to you and to 
your English companions the absurd idea of wishing to teach 
Frenchmen at once their own language, and how to play their 
own comedies in it. In my opinion, on the contrary, the ex- 
periment you are about to make is a most remarkable one, 
which cannot fail to be flattering to English amour-propre. 
Nor can it fail, in my opinion, to pique the honor of the come- 
dians of my own country. I can assure you, that if it were to 



XSO GENEVIEVE WARD. 

be announced in Paris that " The School for Scandal " was to 
be played in English by Got, Coquelin, Delauney, and Mile. 
Croizette, no one would laugh at the attempt, no one would 
believe that Moliere was insufficient for them, no one would tax 
them with a ridiculous vanity : it would be considered a proof 
of the spirit, of the knowledge, and the intelligence of those 
eminent actors. It is thus, my dear friend, that you should ask 
some one of your friends to reply to the critic of " The Stand- 
ard." Let the question be discussed, but do not, on any ac- 
count, take part in the discussion. An artist — and, above all, 
a lady — can never, with a good grace, make a matter of this 
kind personal. If, as I do not doubt, the critic of " The Stand- 
ard" wrote in good faith, when he is once enlightened on the 
real nature of your enterprise he will come and hear you, will 
recognize that you speak French as I do, or rather like a Parisi- 
enne ; and, if he once feared ridicule for you, he will be all the 
more disposed, having heard you, to give you the praise you 
merit." 



The young poet whose verses are at this time of 
writing provoking both trenchant criticism and recog- 
nition on both sides of the Atlantic, — the son of Lady 
Wilde, herself a poet of high repute, and a firm friend 
of Miss Ward's, — wrote the following note to the 
tragedienne : — 

St. Stephen's Club, Westminster. 
Dear Miss Ward, — I suppose you are very busy with 
your rehearsals. If you are not too busy to stop and drink tea 
with a great admirer of yours, please come on Friday at half- 
past five to 13 Salisbury Street. The two beauties — Lady 
Lonsdale and Mrs. Langtry — and mamma, and a few friends 
are coming. We are all looking forward to " L'Aventuriere " 
so much : it will be a great era in our dramatic art. 
Yours most sincerely, 

Oscar Wilde. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. l8l 

On the Sunday previous to her appearance as Clo- 
rinde, Miss Ward went to Paris, rehearsed her part to 
Regnier, and, returning to London the next day, went 
direct from the depot to the theatre, and played that 
night, Monday, May 10, with a success confessed on 
all sides to be complete. The following quotation 
from a leading London journal is a fair illustration of 
the full chorus of applause : — 

" Miss Genevieve Ward, whose performance of the hunted 
and strong-willed Stephanie in the new play ' Forget Me Not ' 
has so astonished and excited the students of dramatic art, 
stands sponsor for an experiment that we believe to be as origi- 
nal as it is interesting. Not only England, with its traditional 
honesty and occasional self-depreciation, but the great dramatic 
France herself, and indeed every nation that has a drama of its 
own, will be astonished to hear that ' L'Aventuriere ' of Emile 
Augier has been played in this country, by English artists, in 
its original language. French actors and actresses have come 
to England, English actors and actresses have struggled to 
obtain a footing in France ; but now for the first time a French 
classical play has been given in French by English artists, and 
with such success, that, if we mistake not, the art world, hungry 
for novelty, will demand an instant repetition of this valuable 
curiosity. Much is constantly said in depreciation of the Eng- 
lish school as compared to that of Paris; but, however sin- 
cerely we may admire the facility of our neighbors, it is impos- 
sible to believe that a picked troupe of the comedians of Paris 
would do as much justice to, say, ' The School for Scandal ' of 
Sheridan, as has been done to the work of Augier by Miss 
Genevieve Ward and her clever companions. They could 
scarcely dare attempt what has not only been tried here, but 
has succeeded ; and, looking at the matter purely as a commer- 
cial speculation, the rendering of Augier's ' L'Aventuriere ' by 
English-speaking artists, if it could be transferred bodily to 
Paris to-morrow evening, would probably do more to honor the 



1 82 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

credit of English art across the Channel than any thing that has 
been done in the matter of persuasion for many years. Miss 
Genevieve Ward, fortified by the advice and encouragement of 
her master Regnier, has left nothing undone that would make 
the experiment fail for lack of endeavor. She wanted to show 
what England could do, and she has fairly proved her case. 
She wanted, in no spirit of affectation or vain-gloriousness, to 
show how much the best teachings of the French dramatic mas- 
ters are valued in this country, how we can sift the good from 
the bad, how we are able to discriminate and select between 
soundness and artificiality ; and now the only regret is, that the 
dramatic doctors of Paris will only hear second-hand of the 
unquestionable success of this interesting experiment. Miss 
Ward, in the character of Clorinde, may be criticised in com- 
parison to the first French actresses of her time. In this play 
she is, to all intents and purposes, a French woman, faultless in 
accent, and with all the traditions of the old classical school. 
Her master is Regnier ; her diploma of excellence has been 
presented to her by Sarcey ; and it was Got who offered her a 
position in the Comedie Frangaise, saying she had less to 
unlearn than her companions, seeing, that her accent was free 
from the provincialisms that hampered the first artists in Paris. 
If there is one actress recalled more than another by Miss 
Ward, it is Favart in her earlier and more impulsive days, 
before she was hindered by the artificiality acquired by a train- 
ing in old comedy. Those who go to see ' L'Aventuriere,' as 
acted at the suggestion of his Royal Highness the Prince of 
Wales, and expect simply a curiosity, will be agreeably mis- 
taken. They will find a French play acted as is seldom found 
even in Paris. One question remains. What is there in the 
French language, its flow, its point, and its adaptability for 
dramatic action, that so fascinates and grips the auditor ? 
These artists have all caught the echo of the Parisian dramatic 
manner, and consequently they all seem to be better actors than 
they were before. When they speak English, why are we so 
deceived ? 

" The enthusiastic applause of the fashionable audience fill- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 183 

ing the theatre yesterday afternoon attested at every opportunity 
the high gratification derived from this remarkable perform- 
ance; and the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
with the Grand Duke of Hesse, added to the interest of the 
occasion. 

The London correspondent of the "Gaulois " wrote 
to that journal in Paris a just and eloquent tribute to 
Miss Ward's successful undertaking. But a French 
actress, who had just failed in " L'Aventuriere," not 
finding this eulogium of Miss Ward to her taste, pre- 
vailed on the editor of the " Gaulois " to cut it short ; 
and the article appeared with Miss Ward's name 
erroniously printed " Harel." The writer of the notice 
wrote at once to Miss Ward, explaining the case : — 

" I have remonstrated [said he] ; and they answered, ' Ne- 
cessity of printing, Greve is in France, death of Flaubert,' etc., 
etc I have re-remonstrated, and have at last enforced the 
little rectification which I send you." 

And which consisted in a small paragraph giving the 
name correctly. 

From masses of congratulatory letters I have se- 
lected : — 

8 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, W. 
May 11, 1880. 

Dear Miss Genevieve Ward, — We thought your experi- 
ment most interesting ; a bold one unquestionably, but a har- 
diesse justifiee by the result. I should not have thought it pos- 
sible to get even a nominally English company together, capable 
of doing so well. We all knew beforehand that your own 
French was perfect, but the risk lay in the support, of course ; 
and, much as some of your comrades may be criticised, it went 
well to the end. Some of us found your Clorinde perhaps a 



1 84 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

little more hard and tragical than she would be on a second 
performance, but full of power, and with many fine points ; and, 
as one much indebted to you for the pleasure of witnessing it, 
believe me, 

Yours sincerely, 

G. W. Sm alley. 

An artist who made his " hit " as Green Jones in 
" Ticket-of-Leave Man," and who has played the Fool 
in " King Lear " with Booth, and went to the provinces 
as Prince Malleotti in Miss Ward's " Forget Me Not " 
tour, wrote this : — 

45 Rathbone Place, W. 
May ii. 

Dear Miss Ward, — I cannot resist the temptation of add- 
ing my congratulations to those which are upon everybody's 
lips to-day. Your performance in French is, in my opinion, the 
greatest triumph an English actress has ever achieved, or a 
French one either. You are at present the sensation of Lon- 
don, and I hope we may be fortunate enough to retain you as 
such for a long time to come. Mrs. Charles joins me most cor- 
dially in congratulations upon your last victory, and I am 
Very truly yours, 

F. Charles. 

The friend and patron of Irving, and mother of 
Kate Bateman, asked to be allowed — 

" To offer my best congratulations on your achievement in 
not only placing yourself on a level with the best French artists, 
but presenting an entire performance, which, I am told, com- 
pares favorably with any thing the French company here give 
to the London public. All this speaks volumes, not only for 
the ability, but the energy, that has secured such a triumph, as 
legitimate as it is unprecedented." 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 185 

Milford Cottage, Godalming. 
Dear Madam, — You are doubtless overwhelmed with con- 
gratulations, but I cannot help adding mine. Clorinde was so 
absolutely perfect, one forgot the tremendous tour de force you 
accomplished working up the whole play. I could not help 
wishing, all the time, you could remember Racine. 
Most truly and admiringly yours, 

Sabine Greville. 

Dear Friend, — Every one has been telling of you, and 
praising you. One critic said you had the finest voice on the 
English stage, the most capable of the subtlest, swiftest changes 
and modulations of passion and power. I was at Mr. May's 
studio; and there your Cleopatra head, your splendid eyes, your 
perfect artistic movements which yet seemed so natural, were 
all discussed, and keenly appreciated. In your Lucrezia you 
realize all that Victor Hugo could have dreamed : I wish he 
could have seen you. In the new play you are also the vrai 
Parisienne femme du monde : every movement and gesture was 

so French. ... I hope you will take young into favor : 

he is anxious to act with you, and with his delicate Italian face 
he would make such a gennaro. Mr. Forbes Robertson was 
here yesterday. He is very charming, and admires your genius 
enthusiastically. Mr. G. W. Wills was also here, and spoke 
much of you. . . . You have waked me to new life with all 
your splendid manifestations of genius and beauty. . . . 
Affectionately, 

"Speranza" (Lady Wilde). 

9 Rochester Square, London. 
May 27, 1880. 

Dear Miss Ward, — Words would not convey my feelings, 
therefore I will not say any thing ; and yet I must say I shall 
always feel so proud to have been connected with the first 
attempt of French plays by English artists. I have not only to 
thank you for your beautiful and artistic present, but for your 
kindness toward me during our rehearsals ; for whatever suc- 
cess I mav have met with at the performances, I owe you a 



!86 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

great part of it, if not all, as I learned more from you in fhree 
weeks than I would have done in three years from a less com- 
petent stage-manager than yourself. Once more, thank you, and 
believe me most sincerely yours, 

D. Marius. 

The success of " Forget Me Not " continued una- 
bated, the last performance being given on the night 
of the 24th of July, to one of the finest audiences ever 
crowded into the Prince of Wales Theatre ; and never 
did English press and public unite to pass more capa- 
ble and copious praise upon a dramatic representa- 
tion. 

The dramatic critic Davey wrote : — 

" You make ' Forget Me Not ' great, for it is not a great 
play. I have never seen any thing finer than your acting of the 
part ; all the more remarkable and interesting to me, because I 
have known a woman of this class, who might have sat for the 
model of the Marquise." 

The following came from the distinguished pianiste 
Mile. Laure Colmache : — 

" What immense pleasure last night! I have joy and pride 
in your talent and your triumphs ; and with what satisfaction 
did we see that room well ornamented, and the beautiful public 

worthy of you ! R was breathless all the time, but almost 

cried to see her ' cousin Jenny ' in so cruel a rdle. I do not 
know if there be a little grain of ferocity in your composition : 
but it is certain that the rdle suits you admirably, and that you 
throw out your little wickednesses with a spirit and naturalness 
that renders the illusion complete ; but I think that in deposit- 
ing your famous blonde wig on your own toilet-table, you also 
deposit therewith your tiger's claws ! " 

The pretty and deservedly popular English come- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. T ^7 

dienne Mrs. Kendall sent this little tender ejacula- 
tion : — 

Dearie, — I'm so glad of your big success I Will come and 
see you the first minute I have to myself. 
Kind love from 

Madge. 

Miss Ward thinks Madge Kendall is the greatest 
English actress. " She is an honor to the stage in 
every way," said Miss Ward to me. " She is the sister 
to Robertson, who wrote all the comedies for the Prince 
of Wales Theatre, and was the original Galatea of Gil- 
bert's comedy. Her Rosalind and Pauline, and Susan 
in ' William and Susan,' are marvellous performances. 
As woman, wife, mother, and friend, she has every 
quality, and is lovely and true in all." 

8 Chester Place, Hyde Park Square, W. 
I was surprised and delighted by your performance on Sat- 
urday. Pardon me if I say surprised : it is only because I had 
not seen you earlier in this piece ; for though I go nightly to the 
theatre when in Paris, there is little in London, as a rule, that 
I care for, and it is long since I have seen any thing here so 
finished and admirable as your Marquise de Mohrivart, which 
I mean to see again at an early day. 

Yours sincerely, 

G. W. Smalley. 

A little book of plays sent by the author to Miss 
Ward was accompanied by the following : — 

3 Snowdon Villas, Kilburn, N.W. 
Dear Miss Ward, — Will you kindly accept the accompa- 
nying little book as a small token of my admiration for your 
great talent ? I am not of the number of those clergymen who 



!88 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

ignore the stage, and place the pulpit immeasurably above it. 
Each may in its way contribute to the general enlightenment 
of the human race. I venture to hope that you are as little an- 
tagonistic to my profession as I am to yours ; and that I may 
subscribe myself very truly your friend, 

^ F. W. B. Bouverie. 

An actor in Madame Modjeska's dramatic company 
wrote to Miss Ward : — 

" I have just left the ' Prince of Wales,' and I don't know 
when I have been so honestly moved. Praise from a mere tyro 
like myself, after all you have received, would be almost an 
impertinence ; still you will let me tell you that I saw the per- 
formance to-day with two other actors, and not one of us had 
dry eyes at the end. It is such performances as yours which 
give hope and encouragement to young actors. I sincerely 
trust you will not think this an impertinence, but find in it a 
respectable and humble tribute to a consummate mistress of a 
noble art. 

" Obediently yours, 

" Arthur Dacre." 

" You have given a depth and pathos to the character " 
[wrote Lady Wilde] "of which, from the text, I did not think 
it capable ; and we see revealed in a most subtle and admirably 
artistic manner that most touching of all dramas, the striving 
upward of a woman's soul, through all the sin of the past and 
the degradation it brings. I do not wonder at tears : they were 
in my own eyes last night, as I witnessed the bitter and terrible 
sorrow over her own fallen self that lay under all the simulated 
levity and light coquetry of the unhappy Stephanie. You have 
re-created the character, and given it a diviner soul." 

Mile. Zara Thalberg, daughter of the great pianist 
and a successful singer at Covent Garden, sent a little 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



189 



message of delighted appreciation from herself and her 
grandmother, the great singer Dangri. 

" What shall I say ? " [wrote Mrs. Louise Chandler Moul- 
ton.] " You electrified me ! It was throughout a wonderful im- 
personation, but the last act thrilled me as I have seldom been 
thrilled in my life. It is not in my power to express the extent 
to which you moved me : praise seems so weak beside the pas- 
sionate strength of that grand last act." 

The popular English novelist Farjeon said in his 
meed of praise : — 

" Mrs. Farjeon was delighted, — and frightened too, — and I 
enjoyed it more than I did at the Lyceum. There's not an 
actress here, and certainly none in America, who could create 
and play Stephanie with such appropriate power." 

The eminent and clever critic Mr. Richard White- 
ing, who wrote in " The Manchester Guardian " — and 
before ever having met Miss Ward — the first apprecia- 
tive and adequate review of her Lady Macbeth, wrote 
to her from Paris concerning her Stephanie : — 

" It is of course in one sense entirely superfluous to praise 
your art in ' Forget Me Not ; ' but as with a great picture, so 
with a great piece of acting, — every critic naturally likes to say 
something about it, and to study it over and over again in new 
lights. You have one of the most appreciative critics in Mr. 
E. R. Russell, 1 of whose praise I will go so far as to say even 
you may be proud, and that is indeed saying a good deal. I 
could almost wish for my own selfish sake that you were not 
winning such triumphs in England ; for I suppose we shall see 
you even more rarely than ever on this side of the Channel, 
unless you allow yourself to be tempted to come over and take 
that place at the Theatre Francais which I am sure will always 
be open to you." 

1 Author of a celebrated pamphlet on The Place and Power of Criticism. 



190 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



Perhaps that laurel which binds permanently and 
indisputably the bays of fame upon her brows may be 
said to have come to Miss Ward with this letter : — 

Paris, July 18, 1880. 

Dear Madame, — Have you arranged for next season? If 
not, would you feel disposed to accept an engagement of four 
months, with the right of extension on my part, for the United 
States, commencing about the end of November next, to play 
your piece, "Forget Me Not," and other pieces, four times a 
week ? The limited number of performances may surprise you ; 
but, having engaged Signor Salvini to play three times a week, 
I would like to make a combination, you to play alternate 
nights ; and as Madame Ristori gives me to understand you 
speak Italian fluently, I think it it would be possible to arrange 
— you being willing to do so — that you should play Macbeth 
and some of his other pieces with Salvini. 

You know, America is the country for such combinations ; 
and your name with that of Salvini would, I feel sure, prove a 
great attraction. 

The company to support you, travelling, theatres, etc., etc., 
would be paid by me. Please let me know if you are disposed 
to accept, and on what terms, sharing or certainty. I am not 
personally known to you ; but my name must be, as Madame 
Ristori and Signor Salvini have both been to America under 
my management. What is still more to the purpose, I am 
ready to offer you any reasonable guaranty you may require 
for the fulfilment of the agreement. 

Have the kindness to answer me at once, as I am dependent 
on your acceptance or refusal to arrange other matters. 
Yours most respectfully, 

C. A. Chizzola. 

Miss Ward's engagements prevented her acceptance 
of this offer, but the tour with Salvini will probably be 
made in the course of a few months. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. j^j 

During the summer the Rotterdam company had 
produced in London the drama, "Annie Mie," for 
which its author, Rosier Faarsen, had received the 
competitive prize for dramatic literature in Belgium. 
" Annie Mie " had been a triumph on the Holland 
stage : in England, though admired by the best judges, 
it had not been remunerative ; and, just as the Dutch 
company were about leaving London, the following 
letter came to Miss Ward : — 

47 Mecklenburg Square. 
Dear Miss Ward, — I should take it as a great favor if you 
would oblige me by throwing over any engagement you may 
have for next Thursday, and dining here at three. The fact is, 
the Dutch company are going away, having been very unsuccess- 
ful ; and I don't like it to be said, that such good artists came to 
England, and received no civility. Hence I have thrown myself 
into the breach, and asked them here on Thursday. But I 
must have a lady to do the honors ; and I expect Stephanie de 
Mohrivart to help me out of the difficulty. 

Ever truly yours, 

L. WlNGFIELD. 

Towards the close of Miss Ward's provincial tour, 
the journals began to publish announcements to the 
effect that Miss Ward had bought the Dutch play, 
" Annie Mie," and was having it translated, adapted, 
and revised for representation in English at the Prince 
of Wales's Theatre in November. 

" Miss Ward herself stage-manages the piece with a view to 
proving — what will not be easy — that the Dutch performers 
can be excelled in this important matter. The part played by 
Miss Beersmans is so different from those Miss Ward has played 
in this country, and the interest is so entirely domestic and 



1 92 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

pathetic, that her performance will be watched with much 
interest. If it is marked by the same fidelity to nature as that 
of Stephanie, it will simply prove Miss- Ward one of the most 
versatile, as she is known to be one of the most talented, 
actresses living." 

On the 25 th of September Miss Ward re-appeared 
at the Prince of Wales's in " Forget Me Not," with the 
part of Rose excised : the critics approved the change. 
Mr. Merivale complained in an open letter to the 
press : he had rented a house, and the tenant had 
coolly knocked out one room in it which didn't happen 
to strike his fancy ! Hence — damages, my lord, 
damages ! 

Somebody, struck with this argument, intimated the 
presence of a flaw therein ; declaring that the tenant 
did not knock out the room, but simply turned the 
key in the door, and declined to use it. Dion Bouci- 
cault, scenting the fray, whipt nimbly to the front, and 
shouted encouragingly to Mr. Merivale, " Steboy ! 
St ! St ! At him ! that's a good fellow ! " and ten- 
dered to Mr. Merivale, in an open letter to the press, 
the Disraelian advice, — 

" Let's have a congress, — of dramatic authors, — to 
settle the yeasting question of English playwrights' 
interests," etc., etc. 

The newspapers wheeled into line on both sides of 
the Atlantic, and contributed an able running com- 
ment of query and suggestion. Punch waxed funny 
with imaginary dialogues on the matter : nothing was 
settled ; Miss Ward continued to play to crowded and 
admiring house's; and "The Daily leiegraph" of 
Sept. 30 had the following : — 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 93 

{Before Lord Coleridge.) 

MERIVALE V. WARD. 

This was a motion for an injunction to restrain the defendant 
from performing, or allowing to be performed, the play of " For- 
get Me Not," with the omission of one of the characters. It 
appeared that the plaintiffs, Messrs. Merivale and Grove, are 
the proprietors of the play, and the defendant, Miss Genevieve 
Ward, had purchased from them the sole right of representa- 
tion for five years from 1879. 

Mr. Woodruffe appeared for the defendant, and objected 
that the matter was not vacation business. 

His lordship said the motion was for an injunction to restrain 
a performance now going on, and in his opinion was properly 
vacation business. 

Mr. Woodroffe contended that the character omitted was 
not an important one, and that the plaintiffs had sustained no 
damage whatever. The learned counsel handed up a copy of 
the play, in which the part in question was struck out in pencil 
by the plaintiff Merivale himself. A letter was also produced, 
in which Mr. Merivale said the play was much too lengthy, and 
was improved by the omission of the character Rose. 

Mr. Ford said that Mr. Grove, the joint author of the play, 
did not agree with this view. 

Lord Coleridge observed that Mr. Grove had made no affi- 
davit in the case. 

Mr. Ford said this was owing to his absence on the Conti- 
nent, and asked that the motion might be adjourned. 

His lordship refused to adjourn the motion, and, in deliver- 
ing judgment, said that before the plaintiffs could be entitled 
to the injunction asked for, they must show, first, that there 
had been a breach of the agreement ; secondly, that they were 
suffering serious damage by such breach; thirdly, that the 
damage would be irreparable if the court did not grant the 
injunction. Upon none of these points had the plaintiffs suc- 
ceeded ; and it was therefore his duty to refuse the motion, with 
costs. 



194 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

On the i st of November Miss Ward appeared as 
Annie Mie at the Prince of Wales's Theatre ; the Prince 
and Princess of Wales were present (which they are 
not usually on a first night) , and the Princess warmly 
applauded the tragedienne, as did also the large and 
eclectic audience ; and Miss Ward played with ad- 
mirable artistic fidelity : yet something was felt to be 
wanting ; and an adverse verdict was pronounced by 
the press with almost the unanimity which had char- 
acterized the praises of " Forget Me Not." As George 
Augustus Sala observed in an early note of comment 
to Miss Ward : — 

" Though you are admirable in Annie Mie, the part is not 
suited to you : it is a great way below your artistic capacity ; and 
in the play there are gallons too many of tears, and at least 
eight mourning coaches too many. I have been obliged to say 
this in my published criticism, — doing justice to your own 
genius and dramatic insight, — but into the part itself I have 
been bound to pitch, and I hope you know I am too true a 
friend of yours to say what I do not mean." 

Many deemed the piece too intrinsically Dutch to 
be susceptible of successful adaptation in English. Yet 
the condemnation of the critics met with some dis- 
tinguished protest, as the following letters will show. 

4 Howley Place, Maida Hill. 
Dear Friend, — I was delighted with your performance of 
Annie Mie : everybody around exclaimed with pleasure. An 
elderly critic seated next to me had come a long distance to see 
you in your new role: half afraid, he confessed, that, after a 
piece demanding such violent emotion as " Forget Me Not," 
you would never be able to subdue your tone to that of such 
deep tenderness as required in " Annie Mie." You should 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 1 95 

have seen his delight when he found his fears groundless. In 
every situation you came out beautifully, and the sense of art 
which made you keep back your powers till the situations came 
made them of the more value. . . . The only fault to me is, that 
there is too little of you. 

Ever affectionately, 

(Mme.) G. Colmache. 

The Garden Mansion, Queen Anne's Gate, 
St. James Park. 

Dear Miss Ward, — I write to tell you what cordial pleas- 
ure and admiration your performance elicited from Mrs. Fanny 
Kemble and myself. I thought it quite admirable, so measured, 
so free from exaggeration, so profoundly touching. In short, 
I desired nothing altered as regards yourself. . . . But the last 
act is terribly too long, and the repetitions of the fiend's story. 
For a permanent success you must cut, cut, cut I 
Ever with true regard, yours 

Hamilton Aide. 

Dear Miss Ward, — I thought your acting last night the 
perfection of sweetness, but I do fear the piece is disappointing : 
the action is not dose enough, and it's too long. This is only 
my humble opinion, but that which was pretty generally ex- 
pressed last night around me (in the pit) was very similar. I 
never met an artist who deserved success so much as you do. 
Faithfully yours, 

F. Charles. 

" Annie Mie [wrote Mrs. Clarke, wife of the equerry of the 
Prince of Wales] is certainly the most beautifully expressed 
idyl I have ever seen on the English stage, delicate in its treat- 
ment, and dainty in all its details. It is an enchanting series 
of pictures, and its tenderness and simplicity ought to come 
like a new and refreshing draught to the jaded appetite of Lon- 
don plaj'goers. You achieve every thing by your inimitable 
acting as the loving mother, obedient daughter, and outraged 
and forsaken woman. 



ig6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

And these letters also : — 



Dear Ginevra, — I have had my mind full of the play and 
your acting ever since. I am enraged with the critics who have 
done it so little justice ! It is full of the most varied interest 
and charm, and all so softly harmonized in the end, leaving a 
final impression of pleasure and content. It has a far finer 
moral and mental power than " Forget Me Not," and there are 
many fine subtle effects in your acting not lost on me. All 
your movements and expressions are true to the character. 
There is nothing of the regal Lucrezia or the audacious Ste- 
phanie ; but the simple peasant grace, a grace that seems all 
of feeling, not of art. ... It is a powerful study, a poem and 
picture in one ; and I am amazed that the public have not taken 
to it warmly. Good wishes, best wishes, dear, beautiful, bril- 
liant Ginevra, from your affectionate friend, 

"Speranza" (Lady Wilde). 

Keats House, Chelsea. 
Dear Miss Ward, — I must see the last night of " Annie 
Mie ! " Might I ask for the same box mamma and I had ? or, 
if that is taken, any box will do„ I should like to be there to 
show how much I appreciate your noble acting, and how much 
I admire a play the critics have so misunderstood. 
Your sincere friend and admirer, 

Oscar Wilde. 

" Annie Mie " was played for the last time on the 
night of Dec. 10; and the day after Miss Ward sailed 
for America, and on her arrival immediately issued this 
notice in the leading journals of the United States : — 

TO MANAGERS, ACTORS, AND THE PUBLIC. 

I have crossed the ocean at this inclement season to protect 
my purchased right of exclusive production of " Forget Me 
Not," against the deliberate piracy of Lester Wallack and 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 197 

Theodore Moss. I am preparing papers for an injunction 

against them, and shall push my legal redress with vigor. 

Meanwhile I beg to say that neither Mr. Wallack nor Mr. 

Moss has any right to " Forget Me Not ; " and, further, I will 

enjoin every manager and actor in the country who attempts to 

play my piece. I have this day concluded to play the piece in 

all the large cities, beginning in the city of New York, at an 

early date, under the management of Col. William E. Sinn. 

Genevieve Ward. 
Dec. 27, 1880. 

Messrs. Wallack and Moss received tidings of Miss 
Ward's departure from England, and made haste to 
present " Forget Me Not " at Wallack's Theatre, re- 
moving a successful play in order to accomplish this 
feat. Her suit for an injunction was pressed with skill 
and vigor, and won ; I and she immediately made a 
tour with " Forget Me Not," of the chief cities of the 
Union and the Provinces, beginning with the city of 
Boston. 

In "The New York Tribune" for Feb. 18, 1881, 
there appeared a critical review of her acting, which, 
aside from the moral deduction drawn, is a master- 
piece of dramatic criticism, as finished as the perform- 
ance it describes ; and as it expresses so admirably the 
sum of intelligent opinion on both sides of the water, 
on this consummate performance, it is given entire : — 

Boston, Feb. 16. 

Miss Genevieve Ward lately ended her engagement, of one 

week, at the Globe Theatre. It was a brilliantly successful 

engagement, and might advantageously have lasted much 

longer. Miss Ward acted Stephanie in "Forget Me Not," — 

1 The whole story is exceedingly well told in Miss Ward's concise and 
masterly affidavit, for which I refer the reader to the appendix. 



Iq8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the play that was the subject of her recent law-suit against Mr. 
Wallack. She first appeared here on the 7th inst., giving her 
first performance of Stephanie in this country; and she was 
welcomed by a numerous and brilliant audience. The attend- 
ance on the second night was still larger, and each night through- 
out the week the theatre was crowded. Even the tempest of 
the 1 2th inst. [the rain fell here in torrents that day] could not 
keep an eager multitude away from the theatre. Neither at 
the matinee nor again in the evening was it possible to obtain 
a seat in the house after the curtain had risen. The success 
of Miss Ward is beyond question ; and it is of a most excep- 
tional character. After seeing her performance of Stephanie, 
no one can feel surprised at the intrepid and determined energy 
with which she contested Mr. Wallack 's infringement upon her 
right of property in the play of "Forget Me Not." To her the 
opportunities provided by the character are special, peculiar, 
unique, and of absolutely vital import. No dramatic artist was 
ever better fitted by a part than Miss Ward is fitted by Stepha- 
nie ; and no other actress on the stage of to-day could act it as 
well as she does. Those who saw " Forget Me Not " at Wal- 
lack's Theatre would scarcely know it for the same piece, on 
seeing Miss Ward as its heroine. The skill and the charm of 
Miss Rose Coghlan are not, indeed, forgotten, and of course 
they are not undervalued ; but, as Cardinal Wolsey remarks, 
" there's more in't than fair visage." Miss Coghlan's perform- 
ance of Stephanie was charming for its piquancy and for its 
volatile, sensuous, mischievous vitality. Miss Ward's perform- 
ance is brilliant with intellectual character, beautiful with 
refinement, nervous and steel-like with indomitable purpose, 
fearfully intense with passion, painfully true to an afflicting 
ideal of reality, and at last -splendidly tragic. And it is a shin- 
ing example of ductile and various art. Such a work easily 
takes its rank among the great achievements of the contempo- 
rary stage. 

It is not meant, in thus defining the nature of Miss Ward's 
success, to intimate that Miss Ward is destitute in actual life of 
those qualities — fair, lovable, and sweet — of which Stephanie 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 199 

is destitute in the play. It is simply meant that Miss Ward 
possesses in copious abundance certain peculiar qualities of 
power and beauty, upon which mainly the part of Stephanie is 
reared. The points of assimilation between the actress and 
the part consist in an imperial force of character, intellectual 
brilliancy, audacity of mind, iron will, perfect elegance of man- 
ners, a profound self-knowledge, and unerring intuitions as to 
the relations of motive and conduct in that vast net-work of 
circumstance which is the social fabric. Stephanie possesses 
all these attributes; and all these Miss Ward supplies, with 
the luxuriant adequacy and grace of nature. But Stephanie 
superadds to these a bitter, mocking cynicism, thinly veiled by 
artificial suavity, and logically irradiant from natural hardness 
of heart, coupled with an insensibility to gentleness that has 
been engendered by a cruel experience of human selfishness. 
This, with a certain mystical touch of the animal freedom, 
whether in joy or wrath, which goes with a being having neither 
soul nor conscience, the actress has to supply — and does sup- 
ply — by her art. As interpreted by Miss Ward, the character 
is reared, not upon a basis of unchastity, but upon a basis of 
intellectual perversion. This Stephanie has followed — at first 
with self-contempt, afterward with sullen indifference, finally 
with the bold and brilliant hardihood of reckless defiance — a 
life of crime. She is audacious, unscrupulous, cruel ; a con- 
summate tactician ; almost sexless in fact, yet a siren in knowl- 
edge and capacity to use the arts of her sex ; capable of any 
wickedness to accomplish an end, yet trivial enough to have no 
greater end in view than the re-investiture of herself with social 
recognition; cold as snow; implacable as the grave ; remorse- 
less ; wicked ; but, beneath all this depravity, capable at least 
of self-pity, capable of momentary regret, capable of a little bit 
of human tenderness, aware of the glory of the innocence she 
has lost, and thus not altogether beyond the pale of compas- 
sion. And she is, in externals, — in every thing visible and 
audible, — the very ideal of grace and melody. 

In the presence of an admirable work of art, the observer, 
of course, wishes that it were entirely worthy of being per- 



200 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

formed, and that it were entirely clear and sound as to its 
applicability — in a moral sense, or even in an intellectual sense 

— to human life. Art does not go very far, when it stops short 
merely at the revelation of the felicitous powers of the artist ; 
and it is not altogether right, when it tends to beguile sympathy 
for an unworthy object, and perplex a spectator's perceptions 
as to good and evil. Miss Ward's performance of Stephanie, 
brilliant though it be, does not redeem the character from its 
bleak exile from human sympathy. The actress, to be sure, 
has managed, by a scheme of treatment which is exclusively 
her own, to make Stephanie, for two or three moments, piteous 
and forlorn ; and her expression of this evanescent anguish — 
occurring in the appeal to Sir Horace Welby, her friendly foe, 
in the great scene of the second act — is wonderfully subtle. 
That appeal, as Miss Ward makes it, is begun in artifice, is 
allowed to become profoundly sincere, is stunned and startled 
into a recoil of resentment by a harsh rebuff, and subsides 
through hysterical levity into frigid and brittle sarcasm and gay 
defiance. For a while, accordingly, the feelings of the observer 
are deeply moved. Yet this does not make the character of 
Stephanie any the less detestable. The blight remains upon it, 

— and always must remain, — that it repels the interest of the 
heart. The added blight likewise rests upon it (though this 
is of far less consequence to the spectator), that it is burdened 
with moral sophistry. Vicious conduct in a woman, according 
to Stephanie's logic, is no way more culpable or disastrous than 
vicious conduct in a man; the woman, equally with the man, 
should have a social license to sow the juvenile wild oats, and 
effect the middle-aged reformation ; and it is only because there 
are gay young men who indulge in profligacy, that women some- 
times become adventurers and moral monsters. All this is 
launched forth in speeches of singular terseness, eloquence, and 
vigor; but it is hardly necessary to point out that all this is 
specious and mischievous perversion of the truth — however 
admirably in character from Stephanie's lips. Every observer 
who has looked carefully upon the world is aware that the con- 
sequences of wrong-doing by a woman are vastly more pemi- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 201 

cious than those of wrong-doing by a man ; that society could 
not exist in decency, if to its already inconvenient coterie of 
reformed rakes it were to add a legion of reformed wantons ; 
and that it is innate wickedness and evil propensity that make 
such women as Stephanie, and not the mere existence of the 
wild young men who are willing to become their comrades, and 
generally end by being their dupes and victims. It is natural, 
however, that this adventurer — who has kept a gambling-hell, 
and ruined many a man, soul and body, and now wishes to re- 
instate herself in a virtuous social position — should thus strive 
to palliate her past proceedings. Self-justification is one of the 
first laws of life. Even Iago, who never deceives himself, yet 
announces one adequate motive for his fearful crimes. Even 
Bulwer's Margrave — that prodigy of evil and great type of 
infernal, joyous, animal depravity — can yet paint himself in 
the light of harmless loveliness and innocent gayety. 

It is but a little while since " Forget Me Not " was seen in 
New York, and readers and playgoers are familiar with its 
story. It is a thin story ; but, in the handling, it has been made 
to yield some excellent dramatic pictures, some splendid mo- 
ments of intellectual combat, and some affecting contrasts of 
character. The dialogue, particularly in the second act, is as 
strong and as brilliant as polished steel. Here, in this combat 
of words, Miss Ward's acting is marvellous for trenchant skill 
and fascinating variety. The easy, good-natured, bantering air 
with which the strife begins, the liquid purity of the tones, the 
delicate glow of the arch satire, the icy glitter of the thought* 
and purpose beneath the words, the transition into pathos and 
back again into gay indifference and deadly hostility, the sud- 
den and terrible mood of menace, when at length the crisis has 
passed and the evil ge.iiss has won its temporary victory, — all 
these were in perfect taste and consummate harmony. Seeing 
this brilliant, supple, relentless, formidable figure, and hearing 
this incisive, bell-like voice, the spectator is repelled and at- 
tracted at the same instant, and thoroughly bewildered with 
the sense of a power and beauty as hateful as they are glorious. 
Not since Ristori acted Lucrezia Borgia in this country has our 



202 GENEVIEVE WARD, 

stage exhibited such an image of imperial will, made radiant 
with beauty and electric with flashes of passion. The leopard 
and the serpent are fatal, terrible, and loathsome ; yet they 
scarcely have a peer among nature's supreme symbols of power 
and of grace. 

Into the last scene of " Forget Me Not," — where, at length, 
Stephanie is crushed by physical fear, through beholding, 
unseen by him, the man who would kill her as one kills a 
malignant and dangerous reptile, — Miss Ward has introduced 
certain illustrative " business " not provided by the piece, but 
such as greatly enhances its final effect. The backward rush 
from the door, on seeing the Corsican avenger on the stair- 
case, with the incident yell of terror, is the invention of the 
actress ; and from this moment to the final exit she is the very 
incarnation — thrilling and even agonizing — of abject fear. 
The situation is one of the strongest that dramatic ingenuity 
has invented ; and Miss Ward invests it with a coloring of truth 
that is pathetic and awful. Wherever this piece of acting is 
seen, accordingly, the lovers of true art will have an enjoyment 
such as is seldom vouchsafed upon the stage. 

An eminent London physician, whose writings are 
much admired for their deep thought, powerful logic 
and humanity, wrote to Mrs. Ward the following pleas- 
ant letter : — 

London, March 10, 1881. 
Dear Mrs. Ward, — I have to thank you much for letting 
me see the criticism on Genevieve Ward and " Forget Me 
Not," in " The New York Tribune." It is indeed a remarkable 
article ; and if " Forget Me Not " were published it might 
preface it as Schlegel and Coleridge combined preface Shake- 
speare. There is spiritual clairvoyance in its perception of Miss 
Ward's intellectual personation, and a now rare knowledge of 
the rights of good and evil, in both the personation and the 
drama itself. It is seldom that one meets in criticism with 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 203 

such a satisfactory wholesome wholeness. To you it must give 
the gratification of something like a final certificate of your 
gifted Genevieve's powers. And I am grateful to the writer for 
also, in his ardent admiration, being so far master of his reason 
as to be able to declare that human good is the last attainment 
of the drama in both its parts. 

Your old doctor, 

Garth Wilkinson. 

Miss Ward appeared in New York in March ; and a 
friend wrote to her : — 

" The sure prospect of the triumphant settlement of the 
Moss-Wallack suit in your favor gives me unfeigned pleasure, 
since you are unquestionably in the right, morally and legally. 
. . . Stephanie, as you create her, is a pathetic, thrilling lesson 
and example in social ethics ; and so, strikes deep into the 
sympathies, and teaches moral and social wisdom in a new and 
original manner." 

" It is very easy to see," wrote Mrs. Anne L. Botta, 
" how much the play owes to you, and what it would 
be in inferior hands." 

Mrs. George Vandenhoff wrote : — 

" I thank you with my whole soul ! Your wonderful Ste- 
phanie will remain engraven on my memory while I have a 
memory. You turned for me a chapter in the history of a 
woman's heart which I had never read before. Was it an in- 
spiration that named the play ' Forget Me Not ' ? Surely to all 
and every woman who shall see you in that character, you will 
remain a never-to-be-forgotten revelation ! It was not acting : 
it was living, being, doing, suffering, and agonizing ! She was 
bad — wicked — lost! But your genius so elevated and re- 
deemed her, that my feeling about her is one of regret, of sor- 
row that the chance she so longed for and prayed for was 
denied to her. . . . The mingled pathos and scorn with which 



204 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

you appealed to this man! the wonderful recovery of your 
bravado and insolent nonchalance, the grandeur of your defiant 
and just accusations, and then at last your abject fear — it 
makes me shudder even now ! I have always admired you as 
woman and artist, but in this new creation you rise above my 
feeble praise." 

Dear Miss Ward, — I am compelled by sheer admiration 
of your wondrous creative power to say that " Forget Me Not " 
took us all by storm. The play is not well constructed, but 
you have made it full of points, creating a character at once 
true and striking ; and I am more than ever your friend and 
admirer, 

R. Shelton Mackenzie. 

And this from the clever editor of "Harper's 
Bazar:" — 

March 26, 1881. 
Dear Miss Ward, — I think you will like to hear what was 
said of you last night by Mr. Salvador de Mendoza, consul-gen- 
eral of Brazil, whom we met with his wife on our way home, 
after leaving you. He declared that he could not understand 
why the Americans made such a fuss about Sara Bernhardt, 
when they had so much greater an artist among them in their 
own countrywoman, Miss Ward. The Mendozas had stopped 
to talk with Madame Gerster, who expressed herself delighted 
with your powerful impersonation ; and they say she is not easily 
pleased. These' things were so pleasant for me to hear, coin- 
ciding so fully with my own opinion, that I feel like telling you 
of them, though I doubt not they are only echoes of what you 
hear continually. I was charmed, indeed, with such a subtle 
and lofty conception of such a complex character as Stephanie ; 
and your countrywomen may well be proud of your success. 
Affectionately your friend, 

Mary L. Booth. 

In June of this present year, 1881, Miss Ward re- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 205 

turned to London, and devoted herself to her friends, 
and to her beloved occupation of modelling, at which, 
as well as in painting, she is very skilful. 

In his article on the Dramatic Fine-Art Gallery, Mr. 
Forbes Robertson said, — 

" Here also is a vigorously treated miniature bust of the late 
Col. Ward, executed from memory by Miss Genevieve Ward, 
the greatest of our living tragic actresses. She has been blessed 
with a wonderful diversity of gifts, — a linguist, a musician, an 
actress in the very highest sense of the term, and, if we may 
judge by the bust before us and by the pictures she has sent 
to the exhibition, it is manifest she would have been supreme 
in these walks also had she turned her attention to them. Her 
1 Sheep, after Verboeckhoven ' (34) would make even an expert 
hesitate to say that they were not from the pencil of the Flemish 
master himself. Whence this lady inherited her gift of the 
pencil, is made abundantly manifest by the exquisite miniature 
(112) which her mother painted of her when a child. Sir Wil- 
liam Ross himself might have stippled this portrait." 

"Who taught you to model? " I asked her one day 
this summer, as she sat working with light and sure 
touch on the bust of her friend Col. Sanford. 

"No one taught me," she replied: "it 'growed' 
like Topsy ; but I ask the best critics to sit in judg- 
ment on my work." 

But acting, painting, modelling, and talking all 
tongues, do not complete the list of Miss Ward's 
accomplishments. She can write. M. Regnier says 
that her letters would make a second edition of 
" Madame de S£vigne ; " and her " Cotelettes a la 
Pojarsky," published in "The Theatre" for March, 
1 88 1, is a perfect literary ragoiit of Russian gastro- 
nomic- novelties. 



206 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Her personal friends are the noblest and cleverest 
men and women of the time • and I have read and 
heard abundant and glowing testimony to her personal 
qualities from those of her own profession, not a jeal- 
ous note of discord anywhere. Madame Colmache, 
critic of "The Court Journal," and author of "Tha 
Life of Talleyrand," is one of the most venerable of 
her friends, a lady who looks like an empress in her 
own right, needing no crown but her own soft white 
tresses, and no jewels but the lustre of her serene and 
loving eyes. 

Another of her friends, Miss Elizabeth Philp, the 
eminent balladist, who wrote the music of "Gene- 
vieve," which appears early in this volume, and is also 
the original of the " English Amazon" figuring in Mr. 
Sala's brilliant book on the late American Rebellion, 
is an English lady of most charming character, whose 
acquaintance is a never- failing source of delight to all 
who meet her. Annie Thomas describes her : — 

" A distinguished ornament of the musical world, and one of 
the most perfect hostesses in society, who has risen to a high 
place among our female composers, and has made her mark by 
her own unassisted efforts. Thoroughly impregnated with the 
real artist spirit, she has set herself resolutely to conquer every 
difficulty that arises in the artist's path, in the most honorable 
and legitimate manner. Clever, painstaking, persevering, and 
sensitive to an extraordinary degree, she is her own most severe 
critic ; while her prompt recognition of talent and thoroughness 
in others, and her hearty appreciation of whatever is worthy in 
her compeers, render her opinion of their achievements as valu- 
able as it is sought after." 

The critic of an authoritative London journal says, — 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 207 

" Her music is always melodious, intelligent, and unforced. 
She selects a poem with taste, and interprets it with respect. 
A poem in her hands remains a poem, and does not become a 
mere peg on which to hang a melody. This is true art, and 
real feeling, and is a quality as invaluable to the balladist as it 
is unfortunately rare. From the long list of a hundred songs 
which she has composed, it is difficult to select a few for special 
mention, when all or nearly all of them are of exceptional merit. 
For pathos, ' Airlie Beacon,' ' Marguerite's Letter,' the grand 
' Story of a Year,' and ' Younger Years,' may be fairly quoted ; 
in passionate feeling * The Poacher's Widow ' stands unrivalled 
among modern English ballads ; and ' Lillie's Good-Night ' finds 
an echo in the heart of every mother who hears it. In addition 
to her great musical gifts, Miss Philp is a profound thinker, a 
careful reader, and a brilliant conversationalist. She has the 
art, so rare among women, of telling a story well, and of coming 
up to her point in a way that compels her most obtuse auditor to 
see it. Her house in London is the popular head-centre where 
musical, dramatic, literary, and artistic people (most of them 
celebrities) delight in meeting on those well-known Thursday 
afternoons which she commenced some twenty years ago, and 
has kept going with signal success ever since." 

Which is all perfectly true; for I have heard her 
sing some of her own delightful songs, — one particu- 
larly fine in interpretation of Mr. Lowell's " Moon- 
light deep and tender," — and I have eaten "chick- 
ing " at her house, and found it " ospitally " ! 

As I draw this sketch to a close, the great tragedi- 
enne is sailing toward her native land, wearing near 
her heart the one amulet that never leaves her when 
she enters into her ideal life of art, — the silver lock 
of the great Siddons linked with the dark tress severed 
by Ristori from her own classic temples for a token of 
love, companionship, and God-speed to the gifted 



2 o8 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

American woman she so nobly and generously loves. 
With her go the clever artists, and firm personal friends, 
who will share with her in the labor and honors of the 
dramatic representations which many of my readers 
will be enjoying when these leaves are fresh from the 
press ; and with her goes also the warm good-will of 
hosts of friends, and the blessing of the invalid brother 
and venerable mother who remain behind waiting, 
with how much love and faith and justified pride, to 
catch the echoes of the new plaudit from across the sea. 

A beautiful light is thrown on the private character 
of Miss Ward, in a little incident made known to me 
since her departure for America. A dear friend asked 
Mrs. Ward how soon they could hope to hear from 
her daughter. 

" I have had a letter from her every day since she 
sailed ! " was the reply. 

Miss Ward had written beforehand letters for each 
day of her journey, marked them all " per Sea-Gull 
express," and left them with a friend in Liverpool, to 
be posted to her mother daily, according to their 
dates. In these letters Miss Ward's imaginary de- 
scriptions of the daily occurrences at sea, not omitting 
to mention the latitude and longitude they were in, 
and the progress made, were delightful for originality 
and humor ; and the whole act was one of the most 
graceful filial tenderness. 



APPENDIX. 



Superior Court of tjje (£ttg of RTetrr ffork. 

GENEVIEVE WARD, 

Plaintiff, 
against , 

THEODORE MOSS AND LESTER WALLACK, 

Defendants. 
City and County of New York, ss. : 

Genevieve Ward, being duly sworn, says : I am the 
plaintiff. I was born in the city of New York, and am 
a citizen of the United States of America. I am an 
actress, and am dependent upon the practice of my pro- 
fession for a livelihood. My attention was first drawn to 
the play of " Forget-Me-Not " by one of the authors 
thereof, Mr. Herman Merivale. Messrs. Merivale and 
Grove were the authors of the said play. Mr. Merivale 
requested me to read it, and I did so. I was greatly 
impressed with the dramatic power of the play upon my 
reading thereof; and I thought I saw that the principal 
character, Stephanie, Marquise de Mohrivart, was ex- 
actly suited to my professional capacities. Not willing 
to trust to my own judgment, I submitted the play to my 
good friend Bram Stoker, then and now the acting man- 

209 



2IO GENEVIEVE WARD. 

ager of Henry Irving, Esq., at the Lyceum Theatre, Lon- 
don. Mr. Stoker confirmed my impression of the play, 
and of my adaptability for the principal part thereof. I 
was in August, 1879, and am still, known in London as 
an American actress. Mr. Stoker advised me to secure 
the play. I accordingly sent for Mr. Merivale; and he 
came to the Lyceum Theatre, Aug. 12, 1879, an< ^ we 
talked over the terms of the purchase of the play. I 
was informed by him that he had never sold the play to 
anybody, and that he and Mr. Grove were the authors 
thereof, and that they only had one hundred copies of 
the play printed ; that they had never published the 
play, nor sold, nor authorized to be sold, any copies 
thereof, and that said play had been printed exclusively 
for private circulation. I told said Merivale that I was 
about arranging for an American tour, and that I desired 
to get a good play for the United States. It was dis- 
tinctly understood by all parties that I was buying the 
piece for representation at any place on the inhabitable 
globe. We especially spoke of the United States ; and 
Mr. Merivale never, prior to the signing of the contract 
hereinafter mentioned, by word or action, led me to infer 
that aught else was contemplated. Mr. Merivale wanted 
some limitation as to the number of times that I should 
play the piece within a given time. I told him I did not 
think it necessary, as I intended to produce the play in 
London, in the Provinces, and in the United States, and 
that I had no doubt that I should pay him the whole of 
the consideration money within one year from the date 
of the production of the piece in London. There were 
present at the time of this conversation, besides Mr. 
Merivale and myself, my brother Albert Lee Ward, and 
Mr. Stoker. Nothing, it seems to me, could have been 
better understood than that I was negotiating for the 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 211 

purchase of the right of the exclusive production of the 
play everywhere, and that said authors were to sell me 
such exclusive right of production everywhere, and cer- 
tainly most especially for the United States, as I had 
positively stated I was especially desirous of getting a 
successful play for America. At that interview the terms 
were fully settled ; and it was verbally agreed that I was 
to have the exclusive right to produce the play for a 
period of five years, for the sum of three pounds for 
every time it was produced by me in London, and two 
pounds for every occasion during said period in which 
the play was produced by me elsewhere. As soon, how- 
ever, as I had paid the sum of three hundred pounds, I 
was then to have the exclusive right of production of 
said play anywhere during said five years without further 
payment. I was also to have a right to a further period 
of five years upon the same terms, providing I gave three 
months written notice of such being my wish. 

The terms being agreed upon, I arranged with Mr. 
Merivale that he should come to the theatre, and read 
the play to my company. He came on the thirteenth 
day of August, 1879, and read the play to the members 
of the company. All were delighted with it. I at once 
assigned the different characters, and put the piece in 
rehearsal. Mr. Merivale gave me three printed copies 
of the play. He said he could not give me any more, as 
he had none. Upon the title-page of the play were the 
words, " Printed for private circulation." I was advised 
then, and am now, that an author had, and has, a right to 
print a limited number of copies of his play for his own 
and friends' use, without thereby dedicating it to the pub- 
lic. I agreed to make the large payment of three hundred 
pounds for the piece in that belief, and the authors took 
my money in the like belief. I found my original im- 



212 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

pression of the play intensified by the rehearsal thereof. 
It had been agreed between Mr. Merivale and myself, 
that I should have my solicitor prepare a written agree- 
ment embodying the above understanding between the 
authors and myself. I desired my said brother to so 
instruct Mr. Coe, whose affidavit is hereunto annexed. 
Mr. Coe prepared the agreement; but what with rehears- 
ing, and one thing and another, I could not get the 
authors together to sign it until about five o'clock p.m. 
of the twenty-first day of August, 1879. They then went 
very carefully over the contract so prepared by Mr. Coe, 
in the presence of my brother and Mr. Stoker. The 
authors made many suggestions, and desired a very 
material amendment thereof. I had agreed to purchase, 
and they had agreed to sell to me, the exclusive right, 
without restriction, to produce the play anywhere. This, 
I am advised, would have given me the right to sell to 
others the said right of production. The authors de- 
sired to change this so as to limit my right of sale, and 
compel the performance by myself. As the piece was to 
be played that night, I consented to that important altera- 
tion from our understanding. The contract was then 
signed by the authors in the presence of my brother and 
the said Stoker. Hereunto annexed, marked "Exhibit 
A," is a copy of the contract as finally concluded and 
signed between us. I have never heard of the authors 
disputing this contract. I have understood that they 
now affect to interpret it differently from its plain mean- 
ing, and from the usual import attached to the language 
employed in the contract. Indeed, the authors have, 
since the execution of the contract, fully satisfied and 
confirmed the same in all its features by bringing an 
action thereon in a court of England, before Lord Cole- 
ridge. His lordship, Sept. 29, 1880, denied the authors' 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 21 3 

motion, with costs. Hereunto annexed, marked " Ex- 
hibit B," is a report of the case as it appeared in " The 
Daily Telegraph," a newspaper printed in the city of 
London, Eng., on the thirtieth day of September, 1880. 

The play, from the night of its first production, on the 
said twenty-first day of August, 1879, was a great suc- 
cess. The papers, with one accord, spoke very highly of 
it; and the London managers all believed in its being 
destined to a long and prosperous career. Prior to its 
first production, Mr. Merivale had induced me to permit 
a sister-in-law of his to appear in the part of Rose de 
Brissac. Notwithstanding I had a lady of my company 
well suited to play the part, I yielded to his request, the 
more so as I desired to remain upon good terms with 
Mr. Merivale. Unhappily the young lady proved herself 
inadequate to play the part. I called Mr. Merivale's 
particular attention to the shortcoming; and he begged 
me to retain her, and that he would coach her so as to 
play the part acceptably. She showing no improvement, 
for managerial reasons I was compelled to substitute a 
daughter of Grace Greenwood in her place. By this 
necessary act, I incurred the malignant hatred of Mr. 
Merivale. So bitter was his resentment that he pub- 
lished cruel lies of me, and sent defamatory circulars 
wherever he thought he could do me harm. He has 
publicly threatened I should never play the piece in 
America. Regarding him as an unaccountable being, 
after advising with my friends, I have taken no notice of 
him, but have done all in my power to make his play a 
success. I trust I do not offend good taste when I add 
that the unhappy man, Mr. Merivale, was. for several 
years in an asylum of restraint, where he had been placed 
by his own mother for an assault upon her. This is a fact 
of open, common notoriety in England ; and I refer to it 



214 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

principally because the defendant Moss claims to have 
had a verbal arrangement with Mr. Merivale about the 
play. At that time I verily believe he was in an insane- 
asylum. The instantaneous success of the play, and the 
difference above mentioned with Mr. Merivale, led the 
authors to refuse to receive the first payment of compen- 
sation due under the contract. They continued to refuse 
for several weeks. They sought to have me break the 
said contract ; but I was careful to fully keep its terms, 
and I made all necessary tender of the amounts legally 
due thereunder. I finally, and, on the eighth day of 
April, 1880, paid to and the said authors received from 
me the full balance of the said three hundred pounds 
mentioned in the said contract ; and I *now allege I am 
the sole owner of the right to produce said play for my 
exclusive performance for the period of five years from 
the twenty-first day of August, 1879, without further 
payment. 

I solemnly aver, that, at no time during the negotiations 
between the authors and myself, did I ever hear the said 
authors say, suggest, or intimate that they had, at any 
time prior thereto, made any sale of said play to any 
person whomsoever, either in Europe or America. I 
never heard the names of Lester Wallack or Theodore 
Moss mentioned by said authors, or either of them. I 
remember saying to Mr. Merivale, prior to signing of the 
contract, that I should produce the play in France. He 
said it was a good idea, and that he would translate it for 
me. Before the signing of the contract, I only had 
casual conversations with Mr. Grove. Mr. Merivale rep- 
resented him with full powers. Afterwards, and when 
the play had run about eight days, Mr. Grove called upon 
me at my residence in St. John's Wood, London, and, 
after referring to the unhappy difference that had arisen 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 21 5 

between Mr. Merivale and myself touching the want of 
capacity of the sister-in-law of said Merivale to fill the 
aforesaid part of Rose de Brissac, stated to me that the 
executed agreement was all on my side ; but that he had 
submitted it to his solicitor, Mr. Martineau, and that the 
said Martineau had stated that the contract was perfect 
and valid. But that he, Grove, hoped I would change it 
to the one that he had prepared. He then handed me 
the paper hereunto annexed, marked " Exhibit C." We 
discussed its terms. He said it was not fair; that I 
might go to America, and stay there a year, and that 
it would injure the piece greatly not to have it per- 
formed meanwhile in England. He therefore proposed 
the alteration contained in subdivision three of said 
Exhibit C. I talked freely to him of playing the piece 
in the United States. He never even hinted that I 
had no right to do so. Indeed, the judge, hearing this 
motion, will find that in exact words, in subdivision four 
of said Exhibit C, he includes the United States. This, 
I think, quite disposes of the asserted claim of Mr. 
Moss, that the authors had already verbally sold to him 
the right to produce the play in the United States. Mr. 
Grove urged upon me that I ought to make these pro- 
posed changes, as the play was very successful. I in- 
formed him that I had made the play a success; that 
they had tried for years to sell the play to managers, 
both in England and America, and that no one of them 
could be induced to undertake its production. He did 
not deny this statement, but insisted that I ought to 
change the terms. I told him we had already agreed upon 
our terms ; but that, if I found the play was a great suc- 
cess in the United States, I would send him a further 
check as a matter of good feeling. He still urged me to 
sign Exhibit C. Finally he threatened me, that, unless I 



2l6 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

signed, they would write a novel upon the play, that 
somebody would dramatize it, and thus I would be injured 
without my being able to prove that they did it. I told 
him, in conclusion, "that I should consult my solicitor, 
and, if I found that they had a knife at my throat, I would 
sign it; otherwise, not." He then handed Exhibit C to 
my brother, and left. Mr. Grove, after said interview on 
the fifteenth day of September, 1879, sent to me a letter 
in his own handwriting, which is hereunto annexed, 
marked " Exhibit D." He simply claims therein that 
I have no right to produce a translation of the play. I 
have never modified the agreement, and it remains as 
it was executed. After the contract had been signed 
between the authors and myself, two engrossed copies 
thereof were made, and sent to the authors for execution, 
which they never executed, but proposed in lieu thereof 
the said Exhibit C. I first heard in January, 1880, from 
Mr. Bird, my attorney herein, of the claim of Mr. Moss 
to produce the play in the United States. I tried to learn 
from the authors whether or not they had sold the right 
to the United States prior to selling it to me. I could 
not learn that they had. Mr. Grove indignantly denied, 
on the 31st of January, 1880, to my brother, as mentioned 
in his affidavit hereunto annexed, that he had made any 
such sale, not wishing to run any risk ; and on the fifth 
day of February, 1880, my brother, at my request, wrote 
to Mr. Grove, requesting an answer in writing as to 
whether the authors had sold the play for the United 
States to Mr. Moss, and received in reply from the solicit- 
ors of said Grove an answer hereunto annexed, marked 
"Exhibit D, No. 2," wherein Mr. Grove indignantly 
spurned the imputation of an earlier sale than the one to 
me. I then requested my attorney, Mr. Bird, to call upon 
Mr. Moss, and have him show him his alleged contract 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 21/ 

with the authors. Mr. Bird did so, and informed me that 
it was without date, but that Mr. Moss had stated to him 
that he would swear that he had had it in his posses- 
sion for two years. I then directed Mr. Bird, as I was 
under contract with Col. Sinn, of the Brooklyn Park 
Theatre, to come to America and produce " Forget-Me- 
Not," to call upon Mr. Moss, and see what compromise 
could be made with him. None was made with him. I 
was, however, involved in such doubt, distrusting the 
authors, and believing the statement made to my attorney 
by said Moss to be true, and being threatened by Mr. 
Moss with injunction proceedings if I came to America 
to play " Forget-Me-Not," that I had to abandon my en- 
gagement at heavy loss to myself and Col. Sinn. I 
advised in London with Mr. Judah P. Benjamin ; and he 
counselled me to have an action brought in America 
against Moss, and compel him to show his contract, so 
that, if it should appear that the allegation of the defend- 
ant Moss was true, and that he really had a contract prior 
in date to mine, and taking precedence of mine, I could 
bring on action against the authors in England, where I 
then was, for damages, and I would be spared the further 
damage of coming to the United States, and asserting a 
right which I did not have. I directed my attorney, Mr. 
Bird, to bring this action, and examine Mr. Moss herein. 
Mr. Moss was examined, and then produced his alleged 
contract, a copy of which is hereunto annexed, marked 
" Exhibit E." This contract was not acknowledged until 
the tenth day of March, 1880. It is only an assignment 
of the authors' right, title, and interest in and for the 
said play in said United States. Mr. Moss has sworn 
in this case that he received the contract, Exhibit E, after 
the tenth day of March, 1880, although I understand he 
had told Mr. Bird that he had had possession of it for two 



2l8 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



years. When Mr. Merivale was accused of double-deal 
ing with regard to this alleged contract with Mr. Moss, 
he published in a London paper, called " The Era," a 
letter over his signature, which is hereunto annexed, 
marked " Exhibit F." I was advised by my attorney that 
the defendant Moss would claim that " Forget-Me-Not " 
had been published and sold by the authors, both before 
and since my purchase as aforesaid. This greatly as- 
tonished me, and prepared me for the present contract. 
I have caused diligent search to be made at all places in 
London where the said play would be exposed for sale if 
the same had been published, and could not find that such 
had been or was the case. I know, when I purchased the 
right of production aforesaid, I applied to the authors for 
additional copies of the play, and Mr. Merivale informed 
me that he had none. I asked him if he did not know 
where I could find some, and he answered no. I further 
asked him if he thought the printer might not have some 
copies. He said he did not know, so I called upon him ; 
but he informed me that only one hundred private copies 
had been printed, and that he had none on hand. I am 
quite sure that I should have heard of the fact if the play 
had been published and sold in London and the British 
Isles. I am also convinced that the copies referred to by 
Mr. Moss, if they are in existence, have either been 
printed since my purchase, or else refer to the limited 
edition printed as aforesaid but not published. 

Had the play been published and sold at the time of 
my purchase of it — thus making it public property — in 
this country, I certainly would not have paid the large 
sum of three hundred pounds for it. It would, under 
such circumstances, have been dishonest in the authors 
to have taken my money, as they knew I was buying a 
play for America. I was advised, that, by the law of 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 2\g 

England, the play must first be produced there, and that 
it had to be entered under the act generally known there 
as the Copyright Act of the 5th and 6th of Victoria, chap. 
45, enacted Jul)'- 1, 1842, which, amongst other things, 
provides, " In case of any dramatic piece or mvfsical 
composition in manuscript, it shall be sufficient for the 
person having the sole liberty of representing or per- 
forming, or causing to be represented or performed, the 
same, to register only the title thereof, the name and 
place of abode of the author or composer thereof, the 
name and place of abode of the proprietor thereof, and 
the time and place of its first representation or perform- 
ance." I therefore caused the said requirements to be 
duly observed, so as to protect my right of property in 
said play in England, and also to prevent any dedication 
thereof to the public under British laws. This was done 
on or about the twenty-first day of August, 1879. The 
play has never been published under the Copyright Act, 
or in any way, either by the authors or myself. It was not 
necessary to publish it in order to obtain the protection 
thereof. The reference to the authors as owners of the 
copyright of a play called " Forget-Me-Not," in the con- 
tract, had sole regard to my contemplated act aforesaid, 
and was inserted by my lawyer in said contract, as a matter 
of description only, at my request. The word " copyright" 
in the agreement was not intended, nor does it refer to a 
published play of " Forget-Me-Not." I should never 
have purchased the right of production of said play if it 
had been a published play. Nothing is better understood 
in the theatrical profession than that an author may pre- 
serve the manuscript character of his play by having a 
number of copies thereof printed for private use. It saves 
vast trouble, and is of great utility in the distribution and 
learning of parts. I know that authors and managers, 



220 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



both in Europe and America, have printed what are 
known as manuscript copies of an original play. Upon 
information and belief, I state that such is sometimes the 
custom and habit of both the defendants herein at their 
theatre, known as " Wallack's," in this city. If this play 
has been published, and publicly sold, as I am informed 
the defendant Moss, in his extremity, now claims, I then 
charge and aver that it has been done since I purchased 
my right thereto, and in pursuance of a fraudulent con- 
spiracy between the said authors and the said defendant 
Moss. I deny that it has been done. I have no doubt 
that said Moss may have had a eopy of said play in his 
possession at or about the time stated in his examina- 
tion hereunto annexed, marked " Exhibit G." In fact, I 
have been informed by Mr. George Loveday of London, 
that, several years ago, Mr. John Clayton, a friend of 
Mr. Meri vale's, requested him to open negotiations with 
Wallack's Theatre concerning the play of " Forget-Me- 
Not." Merivale was then not mentally capable of busi- 
ness. That, in pursuance of said request, the said Love- 
day sent to said Moss a copy of said printed manuscript 
play; that said Moss afterwards returned same to said 
Loveday, and subsequently thereto Loveday returned the 
same to said Moss, at his (Moss's) request. The said 
Loveday informed me that the said Moss thereafter de- 
clined to make any contract concerning the said play, 
and that the negotiation came to nought. I was advised 
that the defendant Moss claimed to have acquired some 
rights through the said Mr. John Clayton. I therefore 
requested my brother to ask him concerning same. The 
result of the investigation was, that said Mr. Clayton 
sent to him the letter hereunto annexed, marked " Ex- 
hibit H," which is in his, said Clayton's, handwriting. I 
have thus shown to the court that not only the authors. 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 221 

but that all the parties represented by said Moss to have 
been in any way connected with the alleged verbal sale 
to him, repudiate the same; the authors claiming that 
to have sold it to me when they had previously sold it to 
Mr. Moss, would not only have been dishonorable, but 
that, as a matter of fact, no contract with Moss was made 
until they sold whatever right, title, and interest to the 
play they then had, "if any there was," to him in March, 
1880. This is fully shown by Exhibit E, being without 
date, and having been acknowledged as late as March 10, 
1880. The acts and doings of said Moss are in keeping 
with this last stated fact. He never advertised that he 
owned the right to " Forget-Me-Not " in the United 
States until March 28, 1880, and then in "The World" 
newspaper of this city, just after the receipt of Exhibit E ; 
and subsequently issued a circular to a like effect under 
the date of April 9, 1880. I desire to call the careful 
attention of the court to Exhibit E, wherein Mr. Moss 
claims to have purchased his right from Merivale only. 
This was in January, 1880. No doubt the fraud was 
perfected after that date and contract, Exhibit E given, 
without date, to bolster it up. It is incredible, if he had 
the right to the play at the time he claims, that he should 
have slumbered so long on his rights, and should have 
permitted the play to have been produced in California 
without any attempt on his part to stop it. As soon as I 
was notified in London that my rights were being invaded 
in America, I caused due and public notice of my owner- 
ship of said play to be given through the public news- 
papers. I also, as early as January, 1880, caused to 
be sent a notice thereof to every theatre in America 
that would be able to produce the play. One of said 
notices was sent to Wallack's Theatre, with the result 
stated in the affidavit of my attorney, John H. Bird. 



222 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



This was the first time I ever heard of the asserted 
claim of said Moss. My rights, since said notification, 
have been respected by all managers in America, except- 
ing the defendant. No one in the British dominions has 
dared to attempt to invade them. When I was convinced 
that the claim of said Moss — as to his having a contract 
with the owners prior in date to mine — was. spurious, I 
then directed, as before stated, that the action brought 
against him should be prosecuted, and to seek, with other 
relief, an injunction restraining him from performing the 
play in the United States. The action was begun by the 
service of summons on Aug. 5, 1.880. The said defend- 
ant Moss has been examined under an order of the chief 
judge of this court, and a copy of his examination is here- 
unto annexed, marked " Exhibit G." I never believed 
that the defendants, Moss and Wallack, would, in the 
face of the facts, actually produce the said play of 
" Forget- Me -Not," until I received a letter from my 
attorney, of the date of Nov. 26, 1880, stating that the 
defendants' attorney had told him that as soon as the 
run of " The Gov'nor " was over, the said play would 
be produced at Wallack's Theatre. My attorney had 
previously urged upon me the importance of my being 
here at the trial of the case ; and, as I believed I was 
about to be foully wronged, I hastened to America with 
such hasty affidavits as I could collect, to vindicate, in 
person, my rights in a court of justice. Unfortunately, 
notice of my departure was cabled to the American 
newspapers ; and, to the astonishment of the theatrical 
world, " The Gov'nor " was withdrawn in the midst, " as 
the defendants claimed," of its prosperous career, and 
" Forget- Me -Not " substituted. I avei that this was 
done so as to produce the play before I could arrive 
and apply for an injunction. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 22$ 

My attorney informs me that the play was produced in 
violation of a verbal understanding between counsel to 
the effect that after it was determined to produce the play 
sufficient time would be allowed him to send to Europe, 
and get necessary affidavits. He also tells me that he 
granted the adjournments of the defendants' examination 
from time to time, upon that understanding. That ex- 
amination was only concluded on the 6th inst. I now 
learn that the defendants' counsel repudiates any such 
arrangement, and claims that my attorney is wholly mis- 
taken. Be that as it may, when I arrived here on 
Wednesday, the 22d inst, I found that the defendants 
had produced said play of " Forget-Me-Not " at their 
theatre, on Saturday evening, Dec. 18, 1880. It is my 
firm belief, and I aver the same to be the truth, that said 
play was produced on that date, so as to prevent my get- 
ting an injunction in time to stop it, as the said defend- 
ants well knew I was en 7'oute to this country with that 
purpose in view. Since my arrival here I have devoted 
all the time that my ill health would permit, in giving my 
said attorney the facts to prepare the necessary papers 
herein. I have not delayed a moment that could have 
been saved. I aver that Lester Wallack is the manager, 
and Theodore Moss is the treasurer, of the theatre known 
as " Wallack's " in this city, and upon information and 
belief that both share as partners in the net profits there- 
of. That both are now producing, in violation of my 
exclusive right of production everywhere of said play, 
said play at said Wallack's Theatre in the city of New 
York. That I have never directly or indirectly consented 
thereto. That the said Wallack claims to produce the 
said play under a verbal license from his co-defendant 
and partner Moss, as appears by said examination of said 
Moss, hereunto annexed. That the said Wallack well 



224 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

knows my rights and claims in the premises, and that the 
same are prior to any pretended claim of his co-defend- 
ant. That the whole has been done by the said defend- 
ants, each and both of them, in pursuance of a conspiracy 
between said defendants and the authors of said play to 
rob me of my exclusive right to produce the play in these 
United States. That the said Moss further threatens, 
and says he is now in negotiation with other managers., 
to sell to them licenses to produce said play throughout 
the United States. That the said Wallack is a party to 
the said scheme, and is, and will be, interested in the 
profits thereof. That the right to the exclusive produc- 
tion upon the stage of said play is of great value to me. 
I verily believe that during the time I am entitled to it 
under my contract it will be, if I am protected in my 
rights, worth upward of the sum of one hundred thousand 
dollars. That I created the part of Stephanie, and have 
played it nearly three hundred times in the kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland. That I have acquired by 
hard work, and the expenditure of a vast deal of money, 
exceeding the sum of five thousand dollars, great artistic 
notoriety in the part of Stephanie, and have made the play 
of " Forget-Me-Not " one of the pecuniary successes of 
the age. That hereunto annexed, marked " Exhibit J," 
are transcripts from the leading London papers concern- 
ing my production of said play, and my representation of 
the leading character thereof. That, without vanity, I 
verily believe the success of said play depends upon my 
creation of the part of Stephanie. That, if said play is 
permitted to be played, my right of property therein will 
be greatly injured, and the said play will become valueless 
to me. That no amount of damages that the defendants 
are able to pay would repay me for the time and money 
I have spent in introducing this often-rejected play to 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 22 5 

the public. That the said play is announced for nightly 
performance at said Wallack's Theatre, and that, as 
deponent is informed and believes, the said defendants 
are now arranging a company to play said piece in all the 
principal cities of the United States ; that the production 
of said play at said Wallack's Theatre, its continued per- 
formance thereat, and the threats to license others to 
produce .the same, in violation of my rights respecting 
the subject of the action, and tending to render the judg- 
ment to be recovered herein ineffectual, have all occurred 
during the pendency of this action ; that final judgment 
has not been rendered herein ; that I never intended that 
the said play of " Forget-Me-Not " should be published 
in America, and I do not now so intend. In fact, I do 
not claim the right to copyright said play, as I am not 
the author thereof, and I have never had any authority or 
permission from said authors to copyright said play ; that 
my object in depositing the title-page of said play was to 
secure the title to said play, and the manuscript thereof. 
I never deposited with the librarian of Congress any of 
the printed books of said play. I was subsequently ad- 
vised that the play, being the composition of foreign 
authors, could not be the subject of a valid copyright, and 
that publication was a condition precedent to obtaining 
the same ; and, further, that I must rely upon my common 
law rights, which would afford me adequate protection. 

That the production of said play at said Wallack's 
Theatre has already done me great pecuniary injury, and 
if continued during the pendency of this action the in- 
jury will be irreparable. 

GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Sworn to before me, this thirty-first day of December, 1880. 

Miles F. Powers, 
Notary Public, Kings County 
Certificate filed in New-York County. 



226 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



Superior Court of tfje <£itg of Nefo gorfe. 

Genevieve Ward against Theodore Moss. 

I, Frederick Charles of the city of London, Eng- 
land, being duly sworn, say and declare, that I have in- 
quired at Stationers' Hall, in the city of London, where 
all plays or publications are recorded (if published or 
printed), if the play " Forget-Me-Not," by Herman C. 
Merivale and F. C. Grove, had been recorded or regis- 
tered as printed and published- for public circulation or 
sale, and found that it has not been done. I have also 
inquired at the several printing-offices where plays are 
printed and published, if said play had been printed or 
published for public sale, and found it had not been. I 
certify that to my certain knowledge, Miss Genevieve 
Ward has expended much time, money, and assiduous 
labor, in making the play " Forget-Me-Not " a success, 
and that it is due to her personal energy and acting such 
success is chiefly due. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 
tenth day of December, A.D. 1880. 



FREDERICK CHARLES. 



Sworn by Frederick Charles, at the Consulate-General of the 
United States of America, No. 53 Old Broad Street, in 
the city of London, this the tenth day of December, 1880, 
before me, 

T. Nunn, 
Vice and Deputy Consul-General and ex-offcio a Notary 
Public of the United States at Lo?idon, and a Com- 
[L.S.] missioner to administer oaths in the Supreme Court 
of Judicature, in England. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 22*J 



Superior Court of tfje Cttg of 'Nzta gorfe. 

Genevieve Ward against Theodore Moss. 

I, Bram Stoker of the city of London, England, do 
solemnly swear and declare, that, at the time of making 
the arrangement for the purchase by Miss G. Ward from 
Herman Charles Merivale and Florence Crawford Grove 
of the play of " Forget-Me-Not," no mention was made 
to me or to my knowledge that the piece or any of the 
rights thereto had been in any way previously disposed 
of; and I was all along convinced that Miss Genevieve 
Ward was purchasing from Messrs. H. C. Merivale and 
F. C. Grove the sole and entire rights of the play for the 
time and under the conditions specified in the agreement. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 
tenth day of December, 1880. 

BRAM STOKER. 

Sworn by Bram Stoker, at the Consulate-General of the United 
States of America, No. 53 Old Broad Street, in the city of 
London, this the tenth day of December, 1880, before me, 

T. Nunn, 
Vice and Deputy Consul- General and ex-officio a Notary 
Public of the United States at London, and a Com- 
[l. S.] missioner to administer oaths in the Supreme Court 
of Judicature hi England. 

[Exhibit A.] 
Memorandum of agreement ?nade the twenty-first day of 
August, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine, between 
Herman Charles Merivale of Barton Lodge, Kingston-on- 
Thames, and Florence Crawford Grove of 4 Bolton Row t 
Piccadilly (hereinafter called " the authors'''') of the one part, 
and Genevieve Ward, of No. 10 Cavendish Road, Saint 
John's Wood (hereinafter called " the purchaser ") of the other 
part, whereby it is agreed as follows : — 



228 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



1. The authors who are the owners of the copyright 
of a play called " Forget-Me-Not," hereby agree that the 
purchaser shall have the sole right to produce for her 
own performance the said play for performance for a 
period of five years from the date hereof. The pur- 
chaser agrees to pay for such right the sum of three 
pounds for every occasion during the aforesaid period on 
which the said play shall be produced by her in London, 
and two pounds for every occasion during the aforesaid 
period in which the play shall be produced by her else- 
where. 

2. So soon, however, as a sum of three hundred 
pounds shall have been paid by the purchaser to the 
authors, under the first clause of this agreement, she shall 
from that time have the sole right, until the expiration of 
the said term of five years, to produce for her own per- 
formance the play at any place, without making any pay- 
ment to the authors. 

3. Upon the expiration of the said term of five years, 
the purchaser shall (provided within three months from 
that time she intimates in writing to the authors ad- 
dressed, and sent by post to their last known places of 
abode, of her wish to do so) have the sole right to pro- 
duce for her own performance the said play for a further 
period of five years upon precisely similar terms as re- 
gards payment to the authors as those mentioned in this 
agreement; the meaning and intention of the parties 
hereto being that the purchaser shall in fact have a right 
to renew this agreement for a second or further period of 
five years. 

4. Nothing in this agreement contained shall affect the 
right of the authors to use the story for other than dra- 
matic purposes. 

HERMAN C. MERIVALE. 

F. C. GROVE, 

GENEVIEVE WARD (Per A. L. W.). 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 229 

[Exhibit B.] 

"THE DAILY TELEGRAPH," LONDON, SEPT. 30, 1880. 
Before Lord Coleridge — Merivale v. Ward. 

This was a motion for an injunction to restrain the 
defendant from performing or allowing to be performed 
the play of " Forget-Me-Not," with the omission of one 
of the characters. It appeared that the plaintiffs, Messrs. 
Merivale and Grove, are the proprietors of the play, and 
the defendant, Miss Genevieve Ward, had purchased 
from them the sole right of representation for five years 
from 1879. 

Mr. Woodroffe appeared for the defendant, and ob- 
jected that the matter was not vacation business. His 
lordship said the motion was for an injunction to restrain 
a performance now going on, and, in his opinion, was 
properly vacation business. Mr. Woodroffe contended 
that the character omitted was not an important one, and 
that the plaintiffs had sustained no damage whatever. 
The learned counsel handed up a copy of the play in 
which the part in question was struck out in pencil by 
the plaintiff Merivale himself. A letter was also pro- 
duced, in which Mr. Merivale said the play was much too 
lengthy, and was improved by the omission of the char- 
acter " Rose." Mr. Ford said that Mr. Grove, the joint 
author of the play, did not agree with this view. Lord 
Coleridge observed that Mr. Grove had made no affidavit 
in the case. Mr. Ford said this was owing to his ab- 
sence on the Continent, and asked that the motion might 
be adjourned. 

His lordship refused to adjourn the motion, and, in 
delivering judgment, said that before the plaintiffs could 
be entitled to the injunction asked for they must show, 



230 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

first, that there had been a breach of the agreement; 
secondly, that they were suffering serious damage by 
such breach ; thirdly, that the damage would be irrepara- 
ble if the court did not grant the injunction. Upon none 
of these points had the plaintiffs succeeded, and it was 
therefore his duty to refuse the motion with costs. 

[Exhibit C] 

Memorandum of agreement made the twenty-first day of August, 
one thousa?id eight hundred and seventy-nine, between Herman 
Charles Merivale, of Barton Lodge, Kingston-on-Tha?nes, and 
Florence Crawford Grove, of 4 Bolton Road, Piccadilly, 
Loiidon {hereinafter called "the attthors ") of the one part, and 
Genevieve Ward, of No. 10 Cavendish Road, Saint John's 
Wood (hereinafter called " the purchaser") of the other part, 
whereby it is agreed as follows : — 

1. The authors, who are the owners of the copyright 
of a play called " Forget-Me-Not," hereby agree that the 
purchaser shall have the sole right to produce, for her 
own performance, the said play, in English, as written by 
them, for a period of three years from the 21st August, 
1879. The purchaser agrees to pay for such right the 
sum of three (3) pounds sterling for every occasion dur- 
ing the aforesaid period in which the play shall be pro- 
duced by her in London, and two (2) pounds sterling for 
every occasion during the aforesaid period in which the 
play shall be produced by her elsewhere. 

2. So soon, however, as a sum of three (3) hundred 
pounds sterling shall have been paid by the purchaser to 
the authors, under the first clause of this agreement, she 
shall, from that time, have the sole right, until the expi- 
ration of the said term of three years, to produce for her 
own performance the play, at any place, without making 
any payment to the authors. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 23 1 

3. In the event of the purchaser ceasing to perform on 
the stage in England for a period of three consecutive 
months during the said term of three years, the authors 
are to have the right to license any one else to produce 
and perform the play, at any royalty they think fit to take ; 
but accounting and paying to the purchaser one-half of 
whatever royalty they do so take. 

4. During the said period of three years the authors 
shall have the right to license translations of the play 
into a foreign language, for performance in any country 
except Great Britain and Ireland and the United States. 

5. During the said period of three years the authors 
shall not use the story for any purpose whatsoever. 

In witness, the hands of the parties, the day and year 
first above written. 

[Exhibit D, No. i.] 

4 Bolton Row, May Fair, W., Sept. 13, 1879. 

Dear Madame, — In order to prevent any possible 
misunderstanding, I write to say that I do not at all admit 
that you have the right to produce a translation of " For- 
get-Me-Not." I regret having to trouble you, but I think 
it best to have no doubt on this point. 
I am faithfully yours, 

F. C. GROVE. 

[Exhibit D, No. 2.] 

36 Theobald's Road, Gray's Inn, W.C., 
7th February, 1880. 

Sir, — "We are requested by Mr. Crawford Grove to 
acknowledge the receipt of your letter to him of the 5th. 

He is much surprised that a question which imputed 
dishonorable conduct to himself and Mr. Merivale should 
be repeated ; and, having regard to the way in which they 



232 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

have been treated, he is not inclined to assist you in 
asserting ; 
not admit. 



asserting an alleged right, the evidence of which he does 



We remain your obedient servants, 

WALKER, MARTINEAU, & CO. 
A. Lee Ward, Esq. 

[Exhibit E.] 

We, Florence Crawford Grove, of 4 Bolton Row, May- 
fair, London, and Herman Charles Merivale, of Barton 
Lodge, Kingston-on-Thames, England, do, in considera- 
tion of the sum of one dollar, hereby transfer, assign, 
set over, and convey to Theodore Moss, of Wallack's 
Theatre, New York, all our right, title, and interest 
in and for our play of " Forget-Me-Not," in and through- 
out the United States of America, and we do hereby 
authorize him to take any and all steps necessary for the 
defence of the said right, title, and interest. 

FLORENCE CRAWFORD GROVE, [l. s.] 
HERMAN CHARLES MERIVALE. [l. s.] 
Signed, sealed, and delivered in presence of 
T. W. Vrigon, 
Consulate General U.S.A., London. 
H. H. Nerdman, 
Consulate General of the United States 
of America for Great Britain and 
Ireland, at London. 

On the tenth day of March, 1880, before me, Joshua Nunn, 
Vice and Deputy Consul General and Notary Public ex- 
officio of the United States of America, residing at Lon- 
don, England, personally appeared Florence Crawford 
Grove and Herman Charles Merivale, to me known to 
be the persons of that name severally described in, and 
who have executed, the foregoing assignment or instrument, 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 2^3 

and then and there acknowledged the same to be their free 
and voluntary act and deed, for the uses and purposes 
therein contained ; in testimony whereof I have hereunto 
set my hand and affixed my official notarial seal, at Lon- 
don aforesaid, the day and year above written. 
[L. S.] J. NUNN, 

Vice and Deputy Consul General, U. S. A., London* 

[Exhibit F.] 
"THE ERA," LONDON, OCT. 3, 1880. 
"FORGET-ME-NOT." 
To the Editor of the Era. 

Sir, — There is a paragraph in your American news 
with reference to this play which I am obliged to notice. 
It throws doubt upon the " good faith " of Mr. Grove 
and myself, states that our contract contains a clause sell- 
ing the play for "Great Britain and elsewhere," and that 
" unquestionably Mr. Moss's contract with us was made 
prior to the other " — as your correspondent " hears " — 
a year or more. 

Imputations upon our good faith do not much trouble 
men of Mr. Grove's character and mine ; but we are 
not good at what is known and admired in the modern 
dramatic world as " smartness," and it will probably be 
some time before we have thoroughly sifted and exposed 
a very discreditable affair, which, having begun with it, 
w r e now intend to do. 

There is no clause about " Great Britain and else- 
where ; " and, if there had been, it would have exposed 
its own futility, as, being British authors, we had no 
rights outside our own country to give. The contract 
described us as " owners of the copyright," and let 
the play for so much a night in London, and so much 



234 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

elsewhere, — a word which does not mean the moon. 
" Owners of the copyright " limits the operation of the 
contract to places where we possessed it, — the Islands 
and possibly the Colonies, about which last I don't know. 
As for an " American right," people do not usually give, 
or intend to give, what they haven't got. We might 
just as well have let Buckingham Palace. The difficulty 
of all English authors is to secure a right in America. 
If it could be done by the very simple process of omit- 
ting allusions to America in the agreement, that diffi- 
culty would be strikingly simplified. I do not under- 
stand how such a claim can be seriously put forward; 
but no doubt the American courts will know how to 
deal with it. 

As to our agreement with Mr. Moss, we might, I pre- 
sume, have made it when we liked, on principle of doing 
what we please with our own. As a matter of fact, and 
in spite of your correspondent's " unquestionable " infor- 
mation, we made the assignment to Mr. Moss in the only 
legal way we found practicable, six months or more after 
the first contract, for no consideration in money whatever, 
and in simple self-defence against the extraordinary 
tricks then being practised on us and our play, both in 
England and America. 

While I am upon the subject, I may as well allude to 
this morning's decision in the matter of the injunction 
for which we applied to prevent the mutilation of the 
play. I was myself in Leicester, and came up too late, 
under the impression the case was to come on in the 
afternoon. I therefore had no opportunity of explaining 
what I must now reserve for a later period. That the 
"letter" produced, without any statement of the cir- 
cumstances which followed, makes the matter, in my 
opinion, infinitely worse with reference especially to Mr. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 2$$ 

Grove. But for all further action I shall wait till Mr. 
Grove's return from the Continent, where he is at pres- 
ent travelling. You will now have published " both sides 
of the question " in a preliminary form, and will, I hope, 
refrain from further discussion till the whole matter has 
been the subject of inquiry. 

Meanwhile, it is as well that authors and actors, from 
their different points of view, should be thoroughly 
aware that an original English play is now being acted 
in London with the omission of a character in the mature 
and deliberate judgment of both the authors essential, 
after an express prohibition addressed to the responsible 
manager of the Prince of Wales, three weeks before its 
production, and by him deliberately disregarded. 
Faithfully yours, 
(Signed) HERMAN MERIVALE. 

Sept. 29, 1880. 

[Exhibit G.] 
Nefo fgorfc &upert0r Court 

Genevieve Ward against Theodore Moss. 

Examination of Theodore Moss, in pursuance of an order made 
kerein by Mr. Justice Sedgwick, on the fifth day of August, 
1880. 

I reside in the city of New York, and have resided 
here for forty years past; have been engaged in the 
theatrical business for a number of years ; have been, 
and am now, engaged as a manager ; I know the play of 
" Forget-Me-Not ; " I know that Merivale and Grove are 
the authors of the play ; Mr. Merivale's first name is 
Herman Charles, and Mr. Grove's full name is Florence 
Crawford ; I do not know them personally. 



236 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Q. Do you claim an interest in the play of " Forget- 
Me-Not " ? 

Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 

A. I do claim the entire and exclusive right and own- 
ership of the play in the United States of America, to do 
just as I please with it. 

Q. When did you acquire that right ? 

Objected to, and reserved. 

A. Verbally in 1878. When I was notified by Col. 
Sinn that Miss Ward claimed some rights in the play, I 
notified Mr. Sinn that I owned the play ; and I then sent 
to the authors for a written contract, which I received, 
and a copy of which has been furnished to plaintiff's 
attorney. 

Q. Does your title to the play in question arise by a 
purchase thereof? 

Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 

A. It does. 

Q. From whom did you purchase- it? 

Objected to, and answered as above. 

A. From the authors above named. 

Q. Was such purchase evidenced by any memorandum 
in writing ? 

Objected to, and answered as above. 

A. The purchase was both verbal and written. 

Q. Have you now got possession of the written part of 
that agreement ? 

Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 

A, It is in the hands of my counsel, Mr. Dittenhoefer. 

Q. Will you produce it on this examination, and show 
it to me, as counsel to Miss Ward, and submit it for my 
examination ? 

Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 

A. I will not, unless ordered to by the Court. 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 2^7 

Q. When did you receive this written paper? 

Objected to, and question reserved. 

A. I must have received it after the tenth day of 
March, 1880. I have no present recollection. 

Q. Have you made any arrangement or contract for 
the production of the play of " Forget-Me-Not " ? 

A. I have made no arrangement, but have had some 
negotiations for its production ; but have made no licenses 
nor granted any permissions for its production. 

Q. Do you intend to produce the play ? 

Question objected to, and answered subject to ob- 
jection. 

A. I do. 

Q. Have you got a copy of the play in your pos- 
session? 

Objected to, and answered as above. 

A. I have a copy, received from the authors them- 
selves. 

Q. Is the copy in your possession in print, or manu- 
script ? 

Objected to, and question reserved. 

A. It is in print. 

Q. When did you receive the copy of the play that 
you have in your possession ? 

Objected to, and question reserved. 

A. The first copy that I had was in 1876, and that was 
in print. 

Q. Did the copy in your possession and the memo- 
randum in your possession come to you at the same time, 
or at different times? and, if at different times, which 
came first ? 

Objected to, and question reserved. 

A. At different times, and a copy of the play came 
first. 



238 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

Q. Were your negotiations for the purchase conducted 
by correspondence with the authors, or conducted through 
the medium of a third person ? 

Objected to, and question reserved. 

A. I received the play first through my agent, Mr. 
Floyd: the negotiations were partly conducted by him 
and partly by myself. 

Q. Have you in your possession any letters from the 
authors, or either of them, upon the subject of the pur- 
chase, or of acquiring your title to this play ? 

Objected to, and answered as above. 

A. I have a number of them. 

Q. Who are those letters from ? 

Objected to, and question reserved. 

A. From Mr. Merivale. 

Q. About when are those letters dated, and about 
when were they received ? 

Objected to, and declines to answer. 

Q. At the time you purchased the play of " Forget-Me- 
Not," or the right to produce it in America, or whatever 
proprietary interest you may have therein, were you 
informed by any person that the plaintiff, Genevieve 
Ward, had an interest in the play ? 

Objected to, and answered subject to objection. 

A. When I first received the play, Miss Ward had 
never heard of it, as I am informed ; since that I have 
been informed by the authors that she never had any 
rights in the United States. 

Q. When the authors so informed you, did he or they 
inform you what rights Miss Ward had ? 

Objected to, and reserved. 

A. No. 

Q. When you were informed by the authors that the 
plaintiff had no rights in the United States, was it before, 
or after, your purchase ? 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 239 

Objected to, and reserved. 

A. It was after. 

Q. Was the information you speak of respecting Miss 
Ward's want of right in the United States conveyed to 
you in writing? 

Objected to, and answered as above. 

A. It was. 

Q. Will you produce that letter, and allow me, as 
counsel for Miss Ward, to examine it? 

Objected to, and answered as above. 

A. I will not, unless ordered by the Court. 

Q. Why will you not produce it ? 

A. Because I am advised by the counsel that is not 
proper. 

Adjourned by consent to Aug. 31, 1880, at 12 M. 

Adjourned by consent to Sept. 7, 1880, at 12 M. 

JOHN H. BIRD, 

Plaintiff 's Attorney. 

I sold the right to produce the play to Mr. Wallack for 
the city of New York. I did that before my examination 
in this cause ; but I did not think, when I was inquired of 
respecting transfers, that you meant to refer to. Wallack's 
Theatre. The license to Wallack is verbal, and made 
ever since I have had the play. 

Q. What consideration, if any, did you pay for the 
assignment of the play to you ? 

A. An agreement to pay royalties. The agreement as 
to royalties was by correspondence. I don't remember 
the date. I don't know when the play will be produced 
at Wallack's. 

Cross-exaimned. — I first got a printed copy in Decem- 
ber, 1876, or January, 1877. I returned the play to the 
authors. In T878 we telegraphed or wrote to send the 






240 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

play back, as we had a chance to produce the play. In 
December, 1878, got a printed copy of the play back. 
About the time I received the written contract, I got 
three or four copies from the authors. 

THEODORE MOSS. 

Sworn to before me this sixth day of December, 1880. 

A. A. Cauldwell, 
Notary Public ; New-York Co. 

[Exhibit H.] 

Vaudeville Theatre, Feb. 7, 1880. 

My Dear Mr. Ward, — I am in the middle of re- 
hearsal, so please excuse my writing in great haste with 
such material as I can find. 

I have seen your letter to Mr. Grove, in which you used 
the word " sold " in regard to " Forget-Me-Not." I never 
asserted in any way the play had been sold to me. 

What I informed you was, that, by Mr. Merivale's 
desire, I some years ago caused the right to be registered 
in America in my name and that of an American citizen, 
to produce a propriety right for the authors. It appears 
Mr. Grove was never told of this : he now knows this 
fact. In haste, 

Yours truly, 

JNO, CLAYTON 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 241 

[Exhibit I.] 
WALLACK'S. 

Mr. Lester Wallack Proprietor and Manager. 

Memorandum. 
With the compliments of Mr. Theodore Moss, Treasurer. 

New York, Jan. 14, 1880. 

John H. Bird, Esq. 

Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of a circular from you rela- 
tive to the play of " Forget-Me-Not ; " and I would notify 
you in return, that, whatever rights your client may pos- 
sess in the piece for Great Britain, she has none for 
America. For your further information, I would state 
that I acquired the only legitimate right to " Forget-Me- 
Not " for this country direct from Mr. Herman Merivale, 
as I shall be prepared to show when occasion demands. 
Yours sincerely, 

THEO. MOSS. 

[Exhibit J.] 

MISS GENEVIEVE WARD. 

" FORGET-ME-NOT." 

Prince of Wales's Theatre, London. 

A success upon which Miss Genevieve Ward and play- 
goers are equally to be congratulated. The acting of 
Miss Ward is beyond question fine : her manner is excel- 
lent. Through all her banter and her fencing with her 
opponent, which is expressed with admirable point and 
vivacity, she never permits one to lose sight of the terri- 
ble earnestness of her purpose, and her resolve to push 



242 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

the weapon chance has put into her hands home to the 
very hilt. The first dawn, too, of that sheer physical 
fear to which she is eventually to succumb, and her 
efforts to suppress it, are very finely marked. — The 
Times. 

Miss Genevieve Ward's Stephanie, Marquise de Moh- 
rivart, gambler, adventuress, false friend, and pitiless 
enemy, may fairly take rank among the most powerful 
impersonations the modern stage has seen. Although 
Stephanie is shown chiefly as a woman of invincible 
determination, working out her own plans with an utter 
disregard of the feelings of those in her power, and 
doing all this under cover of an imperturbably sarcastic 
and polished manner, the character is an extremely diffi- 
cult one to play. The woman, wicked as she is, and 
relentless as she glories in appearing, is not wholly lost 
to softer emotions. She has her brief flashes of tender- 
ness, and her equally transient sensations of shame, to 
express. While at war with all the world of respecta- 
bility, she has to make her abject appeal to be allowed a 
place in that world ; and these alternations of feeling are 
presented by Miss Genevieve Ward with a power and 
truthfulness we have very rarely seen approached. Her 
appeal to Sir Horace Welby when, wishing to lead a new 
life, she implores him to be silent as to her disreputable 
antecedents, is as quietly touching and pathetic as her 
sudden outburst of indignation after he has, by way of 
answer, threatened her with exposure is impressive in its 
concentrated passion. Miss Ward plays this scene of 
the appeal and the defiance very finely. The reception 
given to " Forget-Me-Not " was nothing short of enthusi- 
astic. — Morning Advertiser. 

No spectator can fail to admire the power and inten- 
sity of Miss Genevieve Ward's impersonation of the 
heroine. — Daily News. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 243 

Of Miss Genevieve Ward's fine performance of Ste- 
phanie we have had occasion before now to express our 
hearty admiration. It is a brilliant impersonation, care- 
fully thought out, artistically finished, and intimating in 
the actress not alone poetic imagination and histrionic 
passion, but also that mental culture which gives to 
acting a certain intellectual charm not very easy of defi- 
nition, but irresistible in its influence. It is high praise, 
but no higher than she deserves, to say of Miss Ward, 
that in the subtlety of her by-play and the general refine- 
ment of her execution she at times reminds us of Madame 
Ristori. — Morning Post. 

A signal success in the present instance is obtained, 
and the enthusiasm aroused was of a kind that can 
scarcely fail to spread to succeeding audiences. Miss 
Genevieve Ward has thoroughly mastered the character 
of Stephanie, the heroine, and gives in it an example of 
art equally remarkable for breadth and delicacy. Not a 
movement, not a gesture, is there which is not carefully 
thought out. The whole affords an instance of that 
patient elaboration to which the highest results in art 
are due. In appearance, and in every other respect, the 
performance is a masterpiece of exposition, establishing 
the position of the actress, and rendering as interesting 
as possible a character which from the first is intended 
to be anti-pathetic. — Globe. 

I would earnestly advise all those who are interested 
in the higher phases of dramatic art to pay a visit to the 
Prince of Wales's Theatre. It is a long time since I 
have seen such an actress as Miss Genevieve Ward; and 
in her knowledge of her art, and her power of giving ex- 
pression to it, she has certainly no rival at present on the 
English stage. Of drawing-room charade acting, of carv- 
ing on cherry-stones, and the representation of society 



244 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

prettiness, we have had in all conscience enough. Such a 
performance as that now given by Miss Ward reminds 
us pleasantly that acting is an art, and comforts us with 
the feeling that in our day it has still an exponent. The 
interest centres in Miss Ward ; and the subtlety and 
power of her acting haunt the memory when all else is 
forgotten. — World. 

Without a doubt, the best performance of last year 
was the Stephanie of Miss Genevieve Ward, a study of 
female character so nervous, forcible, and expressive, so 
different from the fastidious littleness and faded pretti- 
ness that occasionally elbow their way into the com- 
panionship of art, that all who saw it last autumn re- 
corded their favorable impression of it without hesitation, 
and wished that London had been at home to see that 
rare combination, a good play thoroughly well acted. 
Good as was Miss Genevieve Ward at the outset, she is 
far better now. The study of the fated Stephanie is 
rounded, finished, polished, and made more thoroughly 
convincing. Fanciful people will complain that Stepha- 
nie is a bad woman, and, as such, has no right to pose as 
the heroine of a drama : they will gather up their moral 
skirts, and wonder what interest can be attached to the 
ambition, the hesitation, the defeat, and the despair of 
this proud, cold, passionless beauty. But those who love 
bold acting and good art will here find a study most 
worthy of contemplation, from the time when Stephanie 
bursts upon the scene to the saddened hour when crushed, 
humiliated, broken, and paralyzed with fear, she crouches 
at the presence of the instrument of her doom, and totters 
from the scene a wreck and a ruin. In cold and defiant 
sarcasm, Miss Ward is excellent to a fault; in the ex- 
pression of a just and righteous indignation, as when she 
lashes with her tongue the selfishness and cowardice of 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 245 

her arch-enemy, man, she is exalted and absolutely con- 
vincing. In her physical fear she is horribly true ; but 
it is in the passages when a better nature is struggling 
with a studied indifference, when acting is fighting with 
reality, when the woman is wrestling with the fiend, and 
the heart is striving for mastery with the manner, that 
Miss Genevieve Ward gives her best contribution to art. 
The expression of the face shows what a mental conflict 
is raging, and there are countless instances where the 
woman's nature changes at the dictation of art. Acting 
so striking as this seldom fails ; and we seem to perceive 
in the surprise and content of the audience a recognition 
that is seldom delayed. — The Daily Telegraph. 

Miss Genevieve Ward's performance of the Marquise 
is a singularly forcible conception, carried out with rare 
art. At times the actress rises to a height of passion and 
emotional power seldom seen upon our stage. — Standard. 

Miss Genevieve Ward plays the adventuress, Stepha- 
nie, with an elaboration of detail, and a finish, both of 
which are remarkable. A performance with more that 
is genuine, original, and powerful has not recently been 
seen on the stage. — Athenceum. 

In the present instance a portrait, as shown us by Miss 
Genevieve Ward, stands out in such rich and glowing 
colors as are rarely to be seen on the canvas of the 
English stage. A more magnificent performance than 
that of Miss Ward has not been witnessed for years. A 
public which greeted Sarah Bernhardt with adulation, 
and applauded her with effusion, cannot fail to recognize 
that in Genevieve Ward stands, not the rival of the 
French woman, but her superior. Miss Ward gains her 
triumph by no brnyant effects, no coarse exaggeration, 
but by subtle touches, the grand passion, and the dra- 
matic force which are the characteristics of a true artist. 



246 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



In her great scene with Mr. Clayton (who plays Sir Hor- 
ace Welby) the way she turns upon him, the former 
companion of Madame de Mohrivart's vices, but now the 
defender of injured innocence, is not less fine in its treat- 
ment than her abject terror when the image of the aven- 
ging Corsican in the garden is disclosed to her. The 
insolence and the bravado of the notorious adventuress 
in Act II. have changed in this last scene to the utter 
helplessness of the horror-struck woman, and bring down 
the curtain upon a faultless display of the histrionic art. — 
Life. 

The actress who plays the Marquise de Mohrivart finds 
provided for her by the authors of " Forget-Me-Not " a 
character drawn with a firm hand, with unflinching con- 
sistency, and with a general feeling for dramatic effect. 
The role is in many ways a repulsive one, and calls for 
no little courage, as well as ability, on the part of the 
actress who would do it full justice. This courage is not 
lacking in Miss Genevieve Ward, who never wavers in 
her determination to present to us the painted adven- 
turess, hard, selfish, cruel, and subject only on the rarest 
of occasions to spasms of womanly feeling. The art by 
which the actress gives to her embodiment a power akin 
to the fascination of the rattlesnake, by which she makes 
Stephanie's baleful influence felt in every tone of the 
smooth, calm voice, in every smile of the glittering eyes, 
and, most of all, in the woman's resolute repose, is unmis- 
takable. The traces of humanity in the fiendish nature 
are indicated with consummate tact ; bursts of eloquence 
come without apparent effort when they are called for, 
and not a single point of the difficult study is missed. 
The performance was a fine one when Miss Ward first 
attempted it; now that she has many times repeated it, 
it has gained in fulness and ripeness, without any ap- 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 2/fl 

proach to over-emphasis or to staginess. It should on 
no account be missed by those who can enjoy watching 
a powerful dramatic conception, powerfully worked out. 
The success of " Forget-Me-Not " was last night even 
more pronounced than on the occasion of its original 
production. — Observer. 

Miss G. Ward acts, with much power and great finish, 
a part that would be worthless in the hands of a less- 
practised artiste. It is not a character which creates the 
slightest sympathy, and consequently her success is more 
difficult to attain, and more creditable when reached. 
There was great applause at the end of each act, and 
Miss Ward, in the second act, was applauded from all 
parts of the house with a heartiness and persistence that 
seldom occurs. — Weekly Times. 

The great theatrical hit for which we have been wait- 
ing so long has come at last ! The re-opening of the 
Prince of Wales's Theatre with Miss Genevieve Ward's 
" Forget-Me-Not " has fulfilled all the anticipations which 
had been formed of its success. Of Miss Ward's mag- 
nificent impersonation of the heroine, it need only be' 
said, that it is one of the finest pieces of acting on the 
London stage. The immense talent displayed by Miss 
Ward in the character of Stephanie will be long remem- 
bered. — Cottrt Journal. 

Miss Genevieve Ward assumed her original part of the 
vindictive, scheming woman, who has attained the cog- 
nomen of " Forget-Me-Not." Her acting is certainly 
artistic and finished, and she met with well-deserved 
success in a character which is all "against the audi- 
ence." — Lloyd 's Weekly. 

" Forget-Me-Not " is decidedly the best original drama 
written last year, and Miss Genevieve Ward is decidedly 
the only actress I know of on the English stage fitted to 



248 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

grapple with the terrible central character of the play. 
She is an actress of intense power and passion, and she 
has made a marvellously close and artistic study of this 
wonderful character. Stray depths of possible tender- 
ness and gentleness are curiously suggested in Stepha- 
nie's character. Under all the icy sarcasm and jarring 
levity of her words we see the workings of a woman's 
heart, a yearning for something better and purer in her 
life, that shines up through all the sins of the past. The 
sin is all but redeemed by the strong shame that breaks 
upon her as she thinks of the absolute wreck of her life. 
You see it in the working of the face, in quivering lips 
and close-clasped hands ; you hear it in the sudden break 
that comes in the clear, pitiless voice. It is acting of the 
very highest order, and nothing so strong or so passion- 
ate is to be seen on any stage in London. — Vanity Fair. 

" Forget-Me-Not " gives Miss Ward an opportunity for 
acting which recalls the triumphs of Madame Ristori, 
and should not be missed by any genuine play-goer, for 
it is as powerful as it is rare. — Victoria Magazi7ie. 

In the comedy scenes, that is to say, throughout the 
first two acts, Miss Genevieve Ward is perfect. " For- 
get-Me-Not " is worth seeing for the sake of the principal 
part, and the principal part is worth seeing for the artistic 
style in which Miss Genevieve Ward fills it. The result 
of so perfect a representation of a really interesting play 
was seen in the abundant applause at the fall of the 
curtain. — Pall Mall. 

In the Marquise, Miss Genevieve Ward has a splendid 
opportunity, and she rises to it ; the result being a most 
finished and elaborate portrait of the scheming adven- 
turess. Every look, every word, every tone, has all the 
significance imparted to it, which long artistic training, 
combined with talent of a high order, can bestow; and it 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 249 

would be well-nigh an impossibility to find a better ex- 
ponent of the character than Miss Ward has proved her- 
self to be. — Sporting Opi7iion. 

In Stephanie de Mohrivart, Miss Genevieve Ward has 
a part which fits her like a glove, and in the stronger 
scenes she played with a singular power. Her perform- 
ance was throughout a consistent one, and to a high 
degree artistic, and she well deserved the lavish applause 
with which her efforts were greeted. — The Scotsman. 

The consummate art displayed by Miss Genevieve 
Ward has led us on from one scene to another, until the 
catastrophe happens in its own good time, to release us 
from the weird thraldom in which she had held us. It is 
long since we have seen such a frank success upon the 
London boards. — Dziblin Eve?iing Telegraph. 

Miss Genevieve Ward's impersonation is one to be 
seen, and will not readily be forgotten. — Sporting and 
Dramatic News. 

To Miss Genevieve Ward the play belongs. Of her 
impersonation of Stephanie we have already spoken in 
terms of the warmest eulogy. We have recognized in this 
embodiment, artistic skill, grace, animation, vigor, pathos, 
and in certain scenes genuine comedy power. We have 
told how the caustic, sarcastic utterances of the beautiful 
merciless woman of the world were given with such keen 
point, variety, and expression, that they fell from her lips 
like sparks of fire ; we have said how grandly was pre- 
sented the transition from sparkling badinage to vehe- 
ment scorn which marks the great scene of the second 
act, where Miss Genevieve Ward's tones were scorching 
in their fierce invective, where her attitudes were majestic, 
and where the facial expression magnificently indicated 
the supposed turbulent working of Stephanie's soul ; and 
further, we have commented upon the tragic force of the 



250 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

final situation, where the terrors of a violent death are 
upon the guilty woman, where the horrors of remorse 
rack her conscience, and where, almost swooning with 
fear and palsied with fright, she crawls from the pres- 
ence of her foe, who is waiting to take her life. Miss 
Ward's acting in this scene, we have been bold enough 
to say, might without exaggeration be compared with the 
grandest efforts of a Ristori or Rachel. This is high 
praise, but it is thoroughly well deserved. The actress 
last Saturday seemed to cast a spell over her audience. 
Pulses beat fast in that encounter with Sir Horace, 
where, having been stung by his bitter words, Stephanie 
turns upon him with vindictive scorn and flashing eyes ; 
recalls the dissipation of the past, and cries aloud, " There 
would be no place in creation for such women as I, if it 
were not for such men as you ; " while the effect upon 
her spectators in the last act was manifest by the breath- 
less silence which reigned, a silence which denoted awe 
as well as interest, and which gave unmistakable proof of 
the actress's power. Cheers and floral compliments were 
not wanting, but this marvellous silence was the best 
compliment that could be paid to the artiste. — Era. 

Meanwhile, as the principal combatant, for such she is 
in a play made up of combat, Miss Genevieve Ward is 
superb. We can recall few performances on the modern 
stage that are finer, more artistic, more careful, more con- 
scientious, more thoughtful, more sustained ; whether in 
the insolence of triumph or the despair of defeat, the 
performance is alike powerful. Her appearance, as she 
enters the house she has determined to make her own, 
is perfect, and during her stay on the stage she fills it. 
Even in her concluding cowardice and abjectness she still 
triumphs, and she departs bearing our enforced homage. 
The acting is quite enough to make a reputation. — Sun- 
day Times. 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 25 I 

What shall I say of Miss Ward ? Such acting as hers, 
as the Marquise, must either be analyzed for pages by 
Balzac, such is its astonishing fidelity to nature, its mar- 
vellous subtlety and attention to the minutest details, — 
or dismissed with one word — perfect. I prefer the last 
alternative. I repeat the word, perfect, most perfect. It 
is superfluous to compliment so very great an artist. 
Strange ! Miss Ward looks, as Stephanie, the exact 
image of the Empress Eugenie as she was before her 
misfortunes. — Town and Country. 

Miss Ward has no equal in her profession as an expo- 
nent of the strongly denned, passionate heroines of the 
stage. — Sketch. 

Miss Genevieve Ward is an actress of very remark- 
able power. She has a fine figure and voice, a quiet 
power in every line of her face and in every gesture ; and 
that itself is one of the highest requisites of an actress, 
for it • makes every thing she does interesting. Again, 
she is perfectly simple and refined in her manner, and her 
playfulness has an air of distinction : it is that of a 
woman in whom playfulness is the unbending of strength, 
not the dissipation of all the little energy of character 
there is. And what is more, perhaps, than any of these 
characteristics, Miss Ward is not absorbed in her own 
part. She is anxious to give full effect to the parts of 
the other actors as she is to her own. Her power was so 
singular and so remarkable, and it was the power of 
so much mental culture, that we may fairly congratulate 
the English stage on the presence of a new actress of the 
first class amongst us. — Spectator. 

Miss Genevieve Ward, as Stephanie, shows herself to 
be a true artiste. The strong dramatic power which she 
exhibits is no less admirable than the ironical tone of 
comedy, which is the main characteristic of the part. In 



252 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



the last scene, Miss Ward's performance is of the highest 
order. If the gradual escape from the room were done 
with the least want of force or artistic feeling, it might 
go hard with the play. In Miss Ward's hands the situa- 
tion becomes thrilling. — Saturday Review. 

[Exhibit K.] 

"NEW-YORK HERALD," DEC. 28, 1879. 

To Managers and the Theatrical Profession generally. 

Miss Genevieve Ward hereby gives notice that she is 
the owner, and has the sole right to produce the play of 
" Forget-Me-Not " in the United States and elsewhere ; 
that she has duly copyrighted same, and will prosecute 
all infringers by injunction and otherwise. 

JOHN H. BIRD, 

Attorney in fact, 
137 Broadway, New York. 

[Exhibit L.] 

To : 

Notice is hereby given, that the undersigned did, on 
the twenty-first day of August, 1879, at the city of Lon- 
don, England, purchase from Herman Charles Merivale 
and Florence Crawford Grove, the authors of the play 
called " Forget-Me-Not," the exclusive right to produce 
the same in the kingdom of Great Britain, in this country, 
and elsewhere, for a period of years ; and that the same 
was duly copyrighted at Washington on the thirtieth day 
of September, 1879. 

This notice is given because of information, just re- 
ceived by me, that Miss Jeffreys Lewis, and others, are 
endeavoring to secure engagements to produce this play 
in the principal theatres of the United States. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 253 

I trust that my rights of ownership will be readily 
respected by all managers and members of the theatrical 
profession generally. 

If, however, notwithstanding this notice, you should 
proceed, and attempt to produce the play, in defiance of 
my exclusive rights in the premises, then I will resort to 
the cpurts, and protect those rights by injunction, and all 
other protective and compensatory measures known to 
the law. 

GENEVIEVE WARD, 
By John H. Bird, Attorney, 
137 Broadway, Room 5, New York. 

New York, Jan. 2, 1880. 

N.B. — I am about concluding a contract with Col. 
William E. Sinn, sole lessee and manager of the Brook- 
lyn Park Theatre, for the production in the United States 
and Canada of the above play of " Forget-Me-Not," for 
the season of 1880-81. For terms and dates, please 
address him at Brooklyn Park Theatre, Brooklyn, Kings 
County, New York. 

[Exhibit M.] 

" FORGET-ME-NOT." 

The New Play, by Herman Charles Merivale and Florence 
Crawford Grove. 

To Managers, Owners, and Proprietors of Theatres throughout 
the United States. 

The undersigned gives notice that he is the sole and 
exclusive owner for the United States of this play, with 
the sole and exclusive right of representing the same, by 
purchase and assignment from the authors and proprie- 



254 GENEVIEVE WARD. 

tors, and that he will prosecute all parties infringing on 
his right of property in the said play. 

THEODORE MOSS. 
Dated New York, April g, 1880. 

[Exhibit N.] 

CABLE MESSAGE. 

New York, May 3, 1880. 
Bird, 137 Broadway, New York. 

Can do nothing here now.. Find out what royalty- 
Moss would take. 

WARD. 
17, Paris. 

[Exhibit O.] 

June 16, 1880. 
Mr. Theodore Moss. 

Dear Sir, — Miss Ward writes me from London, re- 
questing that I procure from you a copy of the agree- 
ment between the authors of " Forget-Me-Not " and 
yourself. Will you kindly comply with her request, or 
advise me at what time and place I can send, and have "a 
copy made ? I sincerely trust you may feel at liberty to 
grant this courtesy. 

Very truly, 

JOHN H. BIRD. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



255 



INDEX OF NAMES 

OF FAMILIES THAT HAVE INTERMARRIED WITH THE 
WARD FAMILY AND ITS DESCENDANTS OF VARIOUS 
NAMES, AS GIVEN IN " THE WARD FAMILY," PUBLISHED 
BY SAMUEL G. DRAKE, BOSTON, 1851. 



Abbe. 


Babcock. 


Abbey. 


Bacheller. 


Abbott. 


Bacon. 


Ackley. 


Bagley. 


Adams. 


Bailey. 


A ins worth. 


Baird. 


Albee. 


Baker. 


Alden. 


Baldwin. 


Aldrich. 


Ball. 


Alexander. 


Ballard. 


Alfrey. 


Bancroft. 


Allen. 


Bannister. 


Ames. 


Barber. 


Amsden. 


Barnard. 


Andrews. 


Barnes. 


Angier. 


Barnum. 


Appleton. 


Barrell. 


Aravello. 


Barrett. 


Arnold. 


Bartlett. 


Ashley. 


Barton. 


Atherton. 


Bascom. 


Atwater. 


Basset. 


Atwood. V 


Bates. 


Austin. 


Bathrick. 


Avery. 


Battle. 


Ayling. 


Bayley. 


Ayres. 


Beade. 



Beaman. 

Bean. 

Bedford. 

Bellows. 

Bemis. 

Bennet. 

Bently. 

Bickford. 

Bidwell. 

Bigelow. 

Bird. 

Bisbee. 

Bishop. 

Bixby. 

Black. 

Blackman. 

Blake. 

Blanchard. 

Blodget. 

Blood. 

Bond. 

Booth. 

Bouker. 

Bowman. 

Boyenton. 

Bracket. 

Bradish. 

Bray. 

Breck. 



256 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



Brewer. 

Brewster. 

Bridges. 

Briggs. 

Brigham. 

Brookins. 

Bromly. 

Brown. 

Broughton. 

Brownell. 

Bryant. 

Bucknam. 

Buffington. 

Bullard. 

Burchard. 

Burgess. 

Burnham. 

Burnap. 

Burnet. 

Burns. 

Bur rase. 

Burrc 

Burt. 

Bushnell. 

Busnam. 

Butler. 



Cabot. 

Caldwell. 

Cady. 

Call. 

Callender. 

Cameron. 

Canfield. 

Carpenter. 

C apron. 

Carey. 

Carlton. 

Carrington. 

Carruth. 

Carter. 

Castle. 

Caswell. 

Chadwick. 

Chambers. 



Chamberlain. 


Cr oxford. 


Chandler. 


Cudderbuck. 


Chapin. 


Cummins. 


Chapman. 


Curtis. 


Chase. 


Cutler. 


Cheesbrough. 


Cutting. 


Cheney. 


Cutts. 


Chesmore. 


Cuzzens. 


Child. 




Childs. 




Church. 


D. 


Churchill. 


Dakin. 


Cilley. 


Dalrymple. 


Claflin. 


Dame. 


Clapp. 


Danforth. 


Clark. 


Daniels. 


Clary. 


Darling. 


Cleaveland. 


Davenport. 


C lough. 


Davids. 


Coates. 


Davis. 


Cobb. 


Davison- 


Coe. 


Dawes. 


Coggin. 


Day. 


Cole. 


Dean. 


Colman. 


Dehanne. 


Columbia. 


Delano. 


Comins. 


Demond. 


Con ant. 


Dennehe. 


Converse. 


Dennis. 


Cook. 


Dennison. 


Cooley. 


Denny. 


Coolidge. 


Denzelo. 


Cooper. 


Derby. 


Corbett. 


Dewey. 


Cornell. 


Dexter. 


Cornish. 


Dibbell. 


Corthell. 


Dickinson. 


Cotton. 


Dike. 


Covil. 


Dix. 


Cowdin. 


Doan. 


Cowles. 


Dodge. 


Cox. 


Dole. 


Craft. 


Doolittle. 


Cranston. 


Dow. 


Crosby. 


Drake. 


Crossman. 


Draper. 


Crouch. 


Drew. 






GENEVIEVE WARD. 



257 



Drury. 

Dryden. 

Dudley. 

Duger. 

Dunklee. 

Dunton. 

Durgen. 

Dyer. 



Eager. 

Eames. 

Earle. 

Eastman. 

Easton. 

Eaton. 

Eddy. 

Edmands. 

Edson. 

Elder. 

Elkins. 

Elliot. 

Ellis. 

Elmes. 

Emerson. 

Emery. 

Enos. 

Este. 



F. 

Fairbank. 

Farley. 

Farnsworth. 

Farwell. 

Fay. 

Fennell. 

Ferrin. 

Ferry. 

Fessenden. 

Field. 

Fife. 

Finney. 

Fitch. 

Fisher. 

Fisk. 



Fiske. 

Fitts. 

Flagg. 

Flint. 

Fload. 

Flowers. 

Fosket. 

Fowler. 

Freeman. 

French. 

Fuller. 



G. 

Galbraith. 

Gardner. 

Garfield. 

Gates. 

Gay. 

Gaylord. 

Gerald. 

Gilbert. 

Gill. 

Gilmore. 

Gillet. 

Gillis. 

Glazier. 

Gleason. 

Goddard. 

Godfrey. 

Goodale. 

Gorham. 

Goss. 

Gould. 

Goulding. 

Gove. 

Graham. 

Granger. 

Grant. 

Green. 

Greenwood. 

Grosvenor. 

Grover. 

Guliker. 

Gunn. 

Gurney. 



Hall. 

Hamilton. 

Hammond. 

Hanks. 

Hannum. 

Hapgood. 

Harback. 

Hardy. 

Harman. 

Harris. 

Harrington. 

Harroon. 

Harper. 

Hart. 

Hartwell. 

Harvey. 

Harwood. 

Haskell. 

Hastings. 

Hawes. 

Hay den. 

Haynes. 

Hays. 

Hayward. 

Hazeltine. 

Head. 

Heald. 

Heath. 

Hedge. 

Hemphill. 

Henry. 

Henshaw. 

Herbert. 

Herrick. 

Heywood. 

Higbee. 

Higgins. 

Hill. 

Hilton. 

Hinman. 

Hitchcock. 

Hobbs. 

Hobart. 

Hodge. 

Hoit. 



258 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



Holbrook. 

Holcomb. 

Holden. 

Holland. 

Hollis. 

Holmes. 

Holt. 

Hook. 

Houghton. 

Hovey. 

Howe. 

Howard. 

Howell. 

Hoyt. 

Hudson. 

Hull. 

Humphrey. 

Hunt. 

Hunter. 

Hunting. 

Huntington. 

Hyde. 

Hubbard. 



Ingalls. 

Ingersoll. 

Ingraham. 

Ingram. 

Ireland. 



Jackson. 

James. 

Jameson. 

Janes. 

Jenkins. 

Jennison. 

Jewett. 

Johnson. 

Jones. 

Janord. 

Joy. 



K. 

Kassan. 

Kasson. 

Keet. 

Keith. 

Kelton. 

Kendall. 

Kendrick. 

Kennedy. 

Kenney. 

Kenrick. 

Kerley. 

Ketehum. 

Keyes. 

Kibbe. 

Kidder. 

Kimberly. 

King. 

Kingman. 

Kingsbury. 

Kiane. 

Knapp. 

Knight. 

Knowlton. 



Ladd. 

Laffin. 

Lake. 

Lamb. 

Lamson. 

Langdon. 

Lathe. 

Lawrence. 

Lazell. 

Leach. 

Lee. 

Leet. 

Leffingwell. 

Leonard. • 

Lewis. 

Libbey. 

Livermore. 

Livingston. 

Locke. 



Loomis. 

Lord. 

Lothrop. 

Lounsbury. 

Love. 

Lovering. 

Lowe. 

Lowell. 

Lyon. 

Lyscom. 

Lull. 



M. 

Mace. 

Mack. 

McLennan. 

McElroy. 

McFall. 

McFarland. 

Mclntyre. 

Macumber. 

Mallory. 

Manning. 

Marble. 

Marsh. 

Martin. 

Martyn. 

Mason. 

Mather. 

Mattocks. 

Maynard. 

Mayo. 

Mellen. 

Melvin. 

Merrick. 

Merritt. 

Messer. 

Millard. 

Miller. 

Mills. 

Minchent. 

Mirick. 

Mitchell. 

Mix. 

Mixer. 

Mixter. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



259 



Monefeldt. 

Montague. 

Montandon. 

Montgomery. 

Moore. 

Moores. 

Morey. 

Morgan. 

Morrill. 

Morris. 

Morse. 

Morton. 

Mossman. 

Mower. 

Munsell. 

Munson. 

Murdock. 

Muzzy. 

Myers. 

N. 

Nelson. 

Newell. 

Newhall. 

Newton. 

Nichols. 

Nicholson. 

Norcross. 

Northup. 

Norton. 

Notewaire. 

Nourse. 

Noyes. 

Nurse. 

Nutting. 

Nye. 

O. 

Oaks. 

Oliver. 

Orcutt. 

Osborne. 

Osgood. 

Overbaugh. 

Oviatt. 

Owen. 



Packard. 

Page. 

Paine. 

Palmer. 

Park. 

Parker. 

Parks. 

Parmenter. 

Parsons. 

Patten. 

Peabody. 

Peache. 

Peake. 

Pease. 

Peckham. 

Peirce. 

Pelton. 

Pendleton. 

Pepper. 

Perkins. 

Perry. 

Phelps. 

Phillips. 

Pigeon. 

Pike. 

Pinney. 

Piper. 

Pitkin. 

Pond. 

Pool. 

Porter. 

Post. 

Potter. 

Powell. 

Powers. 

Pratt. 

Presby. 

Prescott. 

Priest. 

Proctor. 

Proutyf 

Purdy. 

Putnam. 



R. 

Ralston. 

Ramsdell. 

Randall. 

Ransom. 

Rawson. 

Raymond. 

Raynsford. 

Read. 

Reed. 

Reese. 

Remick. 

Retts. 

Rhodes. 

Rice. 

Rich. 

Richards. 

Richardson. 

Richmond. 

Rider. 

Rising. 

Robinson. 

Rockwood. 

Rogers. 

Rood. 

Root 

Ross. 

Rowley. 

Roy. 

Ruggles. 

Russell. 

Rust, 

Rutt. 

Ryan. 

S. 

Sacket. 

Saddler. 

S afford. 

Salisbury. 

Samuels. 

Sanders. 

Sanderson. 

Sandin. 

Sargeant. 

Sarvey. 



26o 



GENEVIEVE WARD.. 



Sawtell. 

Sawyer. 

Scott. 

Scribner. 

Seagraves. 

Seely. 

Selfridge. 

Sewall. 

Sexton. 

Seymour. 

Shattuck. 

Shaw. 

Shed. 

Sheffield. 

Sheldon. 

Shepard. 

Sherman. 

Sherwin. 

Sherwood. 

Shumway. 

Shurtliff. 

Shute. 

Sibley. 

Simonds. 

Sinclair. 

Skinner. 

Slater. 

Smith. 

Snelling. 

Snow. 

Soule. 

South worth. 

Spaulding. 

Spencer. 

Spinney. 

Spokesfield. 

Spring. 

Spurr. 

Squiers. 

Stacy. 

Stafford. 

Staples. 

Stearns. 

Stebbins. 

Stedman. 

Steele. 

Stevens. 



Stickney. 

Stimpson. 

Stocking. 

Stockwell. 

Stoddard. 

Stone. 

Storrs. 

Storer. 

Stow. 

Stratton. 

Streeter. 

Strong. 

Symonds. 



Taft. 

Taintor. 

Talbot. 

Tappan. 

Tatman. 

Taylor. 

Temple. 

Tenant. 

Tenny. 

Thayer. 

Thomas. 

Thompson. 

Thornton. 

Thurlo. 

Thurston. 

Tileston. 

Tinkham. 

Tobey. 

Tomlin. 

Toombs. 

Torrey. 

Town. 

Townsend. 

Tracy. 

Trask. 

Trowbridge. 

Trusdale. 

Tucker. 

Tufts. 

Turner. 

Tuttle. 



Twitchell. 
Tyler. 

U. 

Underwood. 
Upham. 

V. 

Van Horn. 

Vickery. 

Viles. 



W. 

Wadleigh. 

Wadsworth. 

Wait. 

Walbridge. 

Wales. 

Walker. 

Walter. 

Warden. 

Warner. 

Warren. 

Warrick, 

Washburn. 

Waters. 

Watkins. 

Watson. 

Webb. 

Webster. 

Weeks. 

Wellington. 

Wells. 

Whalan. 

Wheeler. 

Wheelock. 

Whipple. 

Whitaker. 

White. 

Whittelsey. 

Whittemore. 

Whiton. 

Whitney. 

Wiggins. 



GENEVIEVE WARD. 



26l 



Wilder. 


Winchester. 


Woodcock. 


Wiley. 


Winslow. 


Woodward. 


Wilkinson. 


Wiswall. 


Wyman. 


Willard. 


Witherby. 


Wythe. 


Williams. 


Witherell. 




Williamson. 


Witt. 


Y. 


Wilmot. 


Wood. 


Wilson. 


Woodbury. 


Yearo. 




L|BRARY OF CONGRESS 

027250 726 





